Because You're Always Right
by Gabrielle Day
Summary: New version. Series of one shots in which Steve is always right, except when he isn't. Co-written with Takada Saiko.
1. On a Boat

Title: Because You're Always Right

Authors: Takada Saiko & Gabrielle Day

Disclaimer: Yeah, we don't own them. We don't own much, but if CBS or USA would like to hire us, we're game.

Note: So I'm an old-school TV-show junkie and when I found out they were remaking Hawaii Five-O and love, love, love the remake. So what is my next step? Suck Takada Saiko into it, of course. :D Plan win. Since we're only two episodes into the first season, we thought we'd do some one-shots, of which this is the first. Please read, enjoy, and review!

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"I am frequently not on boats." Danny said flatly, glaring at Steve who was standing twenty feet away near the middle of the boat. Steve glared back, whether at him or the man holding a gun to his head, Dan couldn't tell. He shifted uncomfortably and took a quick glance at the water rushing by them.

"_What_?" Steve asked.

"I told you I didn't like boats." Dan said.

"No, you said you don't like swimming. You never said anything about the boat."

"I say I don't like swimming which would imply that I am probably not crazy about large bodies of water and what do you want to do? Chase the suspect onto a boat. Guess where boats are usually located? Where we are now! In the middle of a large body of water on a boat!"

Steve gave a minimal shrug so as not to throw off his aim. "As long as you don't hit the water we're fine. Adams! Let him go!" Steve demanded.

Dan tried to remember how they'd gotten into this situation. It'd been a typical day - too hot, too much sand, too beachy - when the case had crossed their desks. Arms dealing. It always had to be something. Arms dealing he could handle, but arms dealing on boats he'd told Steve he could go by himself. Of course, he hadn't actually sent Steve off by himself because Steve was a magnet for trouble.

The fact that he was too he pushed off on the idea that his partner attracted it first and he was just along for the ride. Therefore, all of this was Steve's fault.

He shifted in his captor's grip. "You could shoot him, you know. That's typically what you do when you hold a gun on someone."

He paused and glanced back ever so slightly to the dealer behind him. "That's not an invitation."

"Would the both of you shut up?" Adams snapped. "McGarrett put your gun down and I might not blow the head off your little friend here."

"You know that's not going to happen, Adams. You're not going to shoot him, and I am not going to put my gun down. If you tell your guy to stop the boat now and come in with us, we might be able to cut you a deal. I know that you're working with someone else. Give him up and we'll what we can do."

The dealer rolled his eyes. "You guys beginners at this? Is this the part where you expect me to cry big tears and confess and give up my evil ways? Screw that."

"Well you don't have to confess. We already found the guns." Dan said.

Steve shot him a look.

"What? I'm just sayin'."

"Do you not realize that I have a gun to your head?" Adams growled, roughly indicating with the barrel against Danny's skull.

"You know, I knew something was off. Thanks. Steve, shoot him!"

And then Steve gave that look. That one that Dan had come to know well in the very short - and getting shorter all the time - partnership that the two men shared. It was that look that told Dan: he's about to do something crazy.

The driver had done his best up until this point to continue on as his boss had instructed him. He had no weapon to speak of, and looked highly uncomfortable by the drawn ones around him.

Steve moved faster than any of the other men could follow. The gun dropped, he had his hands on the driver and launched him up and over the side before the man knew what was happening. The boat swerved, throwing him and the others to the side. Steve's gun was up and he fired, hitting the arms dealer. In the same instant the former Seal grabbed at the wheel.

"See, Danny? Everything under control," he called over the waves and the wind. He looked back, eyes searching. "Danny?"

In the instant the boat had jerked, the dealer shoved Dan away from him to keep the added weight from sending him over the edge. With the added momentum of the boat, Dan didn't have a chance and was catapulted towards the edge of the boat and into the water.

The first time his head broke the surface, it was a stroke of luck. He gasped and sucked in a deep breath of air, eyes focusing on the boat that was quickly speeding away. While he was focused on the boat and cursing Steve's idea of a plan, he was fine.

In the split second he focused on the water, he was finished.

He felt instantly disconnected from his limbs and like the whole ocean wanted to swallow him at once. He floundered for a moment before disappearing beneath the surf.

Steve turned the boat around and brought it to the halt. He ran to the front and scanned the ocean. At first he saw nothing and he balled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Come on, Dano, come on..."

He saw what he needed to. He took a running start and dived off the boat.

Everything was pulling him downward and Danny couldn't seem to fight it anymore. Exhaustion tugged him towards the depths and he felt the world around him fading. He couldn't breathe, couldn't see, and couldn't hear anything other than the frantic beating of his own pulse in his ears around the crashing waves. He mentally whispered his apologies to Grace as he slipped and as everything faded to black he thought, just maybe, that he felt a slight tug upward.

Steve kicked towards the surface, one arm tight around his partner's middle. Danny had once told him he was glad Steve had no fear of anything, but if Danny could be in his mind at this moment he would know that it was far, far from the truth. It hadn't seemed like a long time between the boat and getting to his partner, but then he hadn't been the one underwater for the duration.

Steve broke the surface and hoisted Danny up against him to make sure he cleared as well.

"Danny? Danny!" Steve placed his fingers against Dan's neck, cursing softly as he fumbled to find a pulse, both the water and his trembling fingers making it difficult.

But it was there.

"Danny!"

The other man was slack against him as he struggled the way back to the boat. The waves slammed against them and he grabbed for the decking off the back. After several tries he hauled both of them up onto the boat and laid his partner out on the back seating, completely ignoring the dead body of their arms dealer. He leaned closer, listening and feeling for breath. None came.

"Danny!" he hissed, pushing hard against the blonde's chest.

Once, twice, with no response. Finally Danny made a choking sound and coughed up water, his blue eyes fluttering open.

Steve briefly touched his face and put his had back on Danny's chest to make sure his pulse was steady. "Hey. You with me?"

Danny patted his arm and took a couple of deep breaths. He laid his head back on the seat and shut his eyes. Steve was about to tell him to keep his eyes open when his partner looked at him again.

"That...that was your plan?" Danny rasped.

"Well, you going off the side of the boat wasn't part of it. That's where the plan failed."

"What the hell?" Danny grumbled. "I get thrown into the ocean and nearly drown and it's _my_ fault?"

"You didn't hit your head did you?" Steve asked as he reached forward, checking his partner's head.

Danny waved him off, half slapping his hand. "No."

"So you can't swim, can you?" Steve pushed Danny's hands away and ran his fingers along his scalp.

"Oh, very good, Lieutenant Commander. Did that take all your detective skills or did you think I just wanted to drown myself in the face of your consistently life threatening and fool hardy plans? And I thought we agreed that I would get some sort of warning, you know, to let me know that you were about to take out the driver of the boat that is on the large body of water that I can't swim in?"

Steve, satisfied that Danny had no cuts or bumps, left one hand tangled in the blonde curls. "You took in a lot of ocean water. You probably shouldn't talk so much."

"Whose fault is that?" Danny growled, the words fading off into a coughing fit. Steve supported his shoulders until it was over.

Steve leaned closer to him.

"Never would I want anything bad to happen to you, nor would I purposefully let you get hurt." He squeezed Danny's arms and patted his back as he stood.

Danny half turned his head to look up at him. "Steve..."

"You know how to drive this thing or what? This body isn't going to keep for long."

"Why the hell would I know how to drive a boat? And you're the one who shot him! Go find the driver and pick him up. Unless he drowned."

Steve scanned the water and saw a figure bobbing in the near distance. "Nah. You're the only one in Hawaii who doesn't' know how to swim. We'll pick him up, question him, and then..."

"Don't you even say it."

"Then you can book him, Dano."


	2. Wine and Dine

Because You're Always Right (Round 2)

Notes: Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews so far! We'll do our best to keep everyone in character. They're just so awesome. :D Thanks to my Dad for the brief baseball references in this chapter. ^^; Enjoy!

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Of all the places to have to go on a stake-out, it had to be the nicest restaurant on the main island. Steve sighed as he slipped a sports coat over a semi-nice shirt. Finding a way to blend in on an island with relatively so few people was hard enough, but now he had to find a way to do it in a top scaled restaurant with a partner that probably thought fast food was as good as it got. Tie and dress shirt be damned, he was pretty sure that Danny Williams didn't have a sophisticated bone in his body. The one good thing that was going for this was that most of the people in this particular restaurant would be main-landers.

If Danny looked like anything, it was certainly a main-lander.

They had agreed he would drive and through a friend of Kono's who worked in the restaurant, they wrangled a table in the back overlooking the rest of the place. Their would-be waitress was suspected of being involved in the under the table deals going on, and they hoped at the very least to gather some information. If they were really lucky, they'd catch a deal in action.

Steve pulled up to Dan's place and honked the horn. He was taken by surprised when Dan stepped outside in a very expensive looking tailored suit in a dark blue color that suited his complexion and his eye color. The blonde man slipped into the car and glared at him.

"You know honking for your date is rude, right?"

Steve shot him a look that said he was anything but amused. "What's with the suit?"

"My ex wife goes on and on about this place. Supposed to be really nice and classy." Danny let his eyes roam over his partner's attire. "Not that you care."

"Maybe if you'd worn the suit and taken your wife to the restaurant she wouldn't be your ex-wife." Steve said, pulling away from the curb.

"Maybe if you wore a nice suit and took a woman anywhere you'd have a wife." Dan replied.

"Maybe I don't want a wife."

"We'll you're on the right track, then."

Both men sat fuming for the short car trip down to the restaurant. Not a word was said as they exited, handing the keys to the Camaro over to the valet attendant.

As they walked in Steve noticed that while he was slightly underdressed even compared to the most casual of patrons, Danny was certainly not overdressed. He ignored the grin that spread across his partner's face.

"Don't say anything."

Danny leaned over to the hostess as she walked them to the table. "He didn't get the formal dress memo."

She leaned back, smiling. "It's okay. We get a lot of tourists here. If you need anything, please let me know. By the way, I love your tie."

She left them with their menus and sashayed away. Steve and Dan both watched until she disappeared around the corner. Steve turned and looked at Dan.

"A tourist."

Dan grinned. "It's all about the tie. You should try one. Of course, that would give me easy access to a weapon with which to strangle you."

"Unbelievable." A waiter stopped at the table.

"May I offer you gentlemen wine?"

"What are your house specialties?" Steve asked at the same time Dan asked, "Do you have beer?"

The waiter rattled off the lists of the top brand wines and beers before they ordered and he disappeared again.

"Beer? In this place?"

"They have nice beer," Danny grumbled, glancing around. His eyes caught sight of the man they were looking for. "Right on time.

"Let's hope he gets some deals rolling. If he starts his evening quickly, I can make it home in time for the game." Dan said.

"You can take the boy out of Jersey but you can't take the Jersey out of the boy." Steve said.

Dan shot him a look, but caught the quick upward turn of a smile on his partner's face.

Dan smiled. "Damn straight."

Their drinks arrived, followed by a beautiful young woman named Lila who let them know she would be their waitress for the evening. She had long black hair twisted up into a bun, and dark intelligent eyes.

"Have you gentlemen had a chance to look over the menu?"

"Just a few more minutes," Steve answered and Danny frowned.

The taller of the two partners had pulled his menu back up as if he was reading it, but his blue eyes were trained on their suspect. "Something's wrong."

"Ya know, if I hadn't gotten stuck with my back to the crowd, I'd be able to comment."

"It was a strategic move. Anyone looking at us will be too dazzled by your amazing suit to notice I'm really scanning the crowd."

"If I promise to take you tie shopping will you tell me what the hell's going on behind me?"

Steve gave a small smirk. "Mr. Kekoa does not appear happy with whatever deal Rowlin is trying to make with him," he murmured, closing his eyes and doing his best to listen around the crowd. "Something about paying too much for what he got. This is about to turn ugly."

"They just got here."

"Apparently they don't waste time."

Dan looked up and caught the reflection of their waitress in a mirror, watching them. He dropped his eyes back to Steve. "Pull up your menu." he murmured.

Steve shifted instantly, menu obscuring his dark blue eyes. Steve's phone rang and he answered just as Lila came back.

"Are you ready now?" she asked coolly.

Dan put on his most charming smile. "Absolutely. I'll have the steak with green beans and mashed potatoes for sides and he'll have the chicken Marsala. It'll go with his wine selection."

"Very good." Lila said. She reached over and took their menus, slipping a piece of paper under the lip of Danny's bread plate as she walked away.

All at once Rowlin and Kekoa stood, abruptly enough that their chairs scraped against the polished floors. "I understand," Steve was saying, glancing at the irritably retreating figures. Rowlin had Kekoa loosely by the arm, but the other didn't seem to want to move around back.

Danny glanced at the note, paling slightly. He turned his eyes to his partner, but the dark haired former Seal was already standing and moving towards the back, following.

"I hate him so much," he growled out as he followed, leaving the folded note on the table with two words scrawled across it: _set up_. "Steve! Steve!" Danny hissed, trying to get his attention.

Steve walked on, long stride steady, never hearing his partner calling. The waiter grabbed Dan's arm just as Steve pushed the kitchen door open and disappeared inside.

"Did either of you gentlemen care for a refill?" he asked, glancing at their abandoned table with a frown.

"What? No. No, we're AA members. Hey, can you have our food put in take out boxes? Apparently we're going eat and run. Or vice versa." Dan pushed past him.

"Sir, patrons are not allowed in the kitchen...Sir!"

Frustrated, Danny fished his badge from his pocket and flashed it. "Are we done?" he asked the waiter and continued on after a blank nod met the sight. He had to get out to Steve before he walked into what might be an elaborate hoax to draw them both out. He spotted the dark haired man as he was pushing the door to the outside open. "Steve!"

The door shut, cutting Steve off from him. Danny cursed under his breath and moved quickly towards the door. He didn't notice the kitchen staff oddly still, watching him go. He shoved the door open and spotted Steve, standing several feet away from him, hands on his hips. Aside from them, the alley was empty.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Danny demanded. "I've seen steamrollers more subtle than you."

Steve didn't turn around. "They're gone. They must have had a car waiting. Call Kono, we'll need to track Kekoa's phone."

Danny joined him. "You do realize we'll never be able to be undercover at this place again, right? We'll be lucky if they don't spit in our food or something." Danny grumbled, pulling out his phone.

Steve turned to look at him and comment and froze at what he saw. Danny glanced up from his dialing.

"What?" he demanded, voice proving how irritable he was at the moment. He followed his partner's gaze back to where the waiter that he'd flashed his badge to stood, gun aimed. Danny let out a low curse. He'd had the warning and he'd still walked right into it.

"Listen kid," he started slowly, raising his hands very slowly.

The shot went off.

Danny cringed and braced himself for the hit, surprised when he was shoved from the side. His mind worked furiously to process what was happening and swallowed his panic. Steve was stumbling and he threw one arm out to catch him, his other hand pulling his gun and firing at Rowlin's waiter-turned-henchman. The young man cried out and went down. The back door opened and Lila came out. Dan took a precious few seconds to watch her take the kid's gun and aim it. He refocused his attention on his partner, easing him to the ground.

"Steve? Steve! Where are you hit?"

The former Seal let out a grunt of pain, blue eyes blinking open. "I'm fine. Just the arm."

"Just," Danny grumbled, shifting the other to take a look.

He peeled back the coat and shirt, eliciting a hiss of pain from the other man. The bullet had left a bloody mess at the edge of Steve's tattoo.

"Damn," he breathed out.

"That's what they tell me." Steve mumbled with a half smile.

"You're incorrigible, you know that? Lie down and stay still, for heaven's sake." Dan ordered, taking off his tie. "You got him okay down there?" he shouted to Lila.

She nodded.

"Good. He tries to run, shoot him."

"Can't tell a civilian to shoot a man in the back." Steve protested.

"The hell I can't." Dan snapped. He rolled up his suit jacket and put it under Steve's head. He then took his tie and slipped it under Steve's arm to start creating a tourniquet.

"Isn't that breaking some sort of rule?" Steve insisted, watching Danny carefully.

Danny grit his teeth. "He shot my partner. He's lucky I'm giving him the chance to run. Would you _please_ hold still?"

Steve stiffened at those words and allowed Danny to tie the strip of material securely around his arm.

"Ambulance is on the way," Lila told them, still aiming at her former co-worker. She didn't look quite as shaken as she should have, but they would chalk that up to her questionable extracurricular activities. \

After Dan had his friend situated, he murmured a low "Thank you."

"What's that?" Steve chuckled. "I thought you're supposed to apologize when you get your partner's shot."

Irritation flashed across the blonde's face. "What the... You jumped in front of it!"

"You should have checked behind you. He was suspicious from the start. When he was listing wines he got his French wines and his German wines mixed up. A real waiter here would have never made that mistake."

Dan stared at him. "You're telling me that it's my fault you got shot because I drink beer and not wine?"

Steve cracked a smile. "That and so much more."

"Listen, if it weren't for me you'd be bleeding out in a back alley here."

The dark haired man chuckled. "You and your tie."

"Exactly. Me and my tie are saving your life right now."

"So we're even."

"Yeah." "

So where's my apology for getting shot in the first place?"

"Damn it, Steve. That's not how it works!"

Several hours later, Chin and Kono reported Rowlin caught and Kekoa safe (as well as safe behind bars) and Danny was insisting Steve shut up and sit on the couch.

"I don't like the Mets." Steve protested as Danny turned the TiVoed game on.

"Don't talk to me." Danny replied. "How can you not like the Mets?"

"Why would I like the Mets?"

"What team do you like?"

"The Reds." Steve replied.

He smiled as Danny practically turned colors. "Why the hell would you like the Reds? You're from Hawaii...you're messing with me, aren't you?"

Steve grinned and nodded.

"Just for that, I may not bring you food." Danny grumbled.

Lila had been kind enough to save their food and drop it off for them after Steve had been released from the hospital. Despite his threat, he returned to the couch with two food containers and plopped down next to Steve.

"No talking during the game." he warned.

They watched the game in companionable silence for a few minutes, before Danny caught Steve trying to steal a forkful of his food.

"What are you doing?" Dan asked.

"Trying your food."

"You don't just take food off someone else's plate without asking!"

"You said I couldn't talk." Steve said simply.

Danny stared at him and Steve stared back until he'd chewed and swallowed.

"That's pretty good." he said.

"Oh, is it? I'm glad you think so."

"I'm sorry about your tie." Steve said seriously.

Danny put his fork down, surprised. "I'm sorry you got shot." he conceded. "Are we good now?"

Steve grinned. "Yeah. We're good."

Danny muttered something under his breath, and stole a forkful of Steve's chicken Marsala, just for good measure.


	3. Family Ties

Because You're Always Right (Round 3: Family Ties)

Notes: Bless you all for your lovely, lovely reviews. And yes, the whumpage factor is upped in this edition. Plus, I must apologize for the delay in getting this up, I'm running around like a lunatic with a three day event at work. Takada Saiko would have had this up yesterday, so please forgive me and enjoy!

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Steve had said he'd known them. It was a brother duo that gave great respect to family. They hated cops and they'd stop at nothing to finish what they'd set out to do, but when the threat came in with vague references to Danny's little girl, Steve had told him not to worry. He knew them. They were bad news, but they didn't touch children. Even they had standards.

At some point, both he and Steve were going to learn that Steve was not always right.

He was pretty sure there were bruises on Steve's arm from where he'd reached across the car and clamped on with one hand after he'd answered the call with Rachel screaming at him and Gracie screaming in the background. He couldn't even remember what she'd said (although he'd place money on it not being polite or favorable to his heritage) he'd been so stunned and..._afraid_. Brother No. 1, Edwin Murphy had replaced his ex-wife's shrill voice moments later, informing him quite calmly that if they were given what they wanted, his daughter and her new family unit would be returned unharmed. _Yeah, right_.

He'd then heard Rachel scream again and the sound of Brother No. 2, Ian Murphy, letting loose a string of curses that finally shut her up. He'd been given a meeting place and instructions that he and his partner were to go - single car, no backup - to the old abandoned warehouse (typical) and were to be unarmed. Edwin reminded Danny in an overly polite voice that he had three hostages and he'd make good on his threats. Steve was not easily unnerved, but the haunted look in Danny's eyes was enough to form a knot in his stomach.

"We'll get them back," he murmured, hitting the gas pedal.

Danny had wanted to ask and if we don't but couldn't bring himself to say it out loud. To say it out loud gave it the chance of happening and he didn't think he could live if anything happened to Grace. Steve's gaze followed the patter of side mirror to rear view mirror to Danny and back, and his partner's unusual silence made the knot even tighter. The warehouse came into view, and there were no other vehicles in sight. Steve slowly braked and stopped the car. For a second, neither of them moved.

"Danny..." Steve said. The uncertainty in his voice made Danny nauseated.

"I know, I know." he said roughly. "I'm the back up."

Steve gave him a long, thoughtful look.

Danny sighed, tension evident in every movement. "Listen, they want us to go in unarmed. It'll be funny if you go in first, and if you go in armed they might... Grace is..."

"What are you saying?" his partner asked lowly. "You want to waltz in there unarmed and negotiate?"

"Or at least give you a decent shot."

"That's a horrible idea." Danny took a breath, trying to gain control over the emotions that were threatening to rip his thought process apart. "We're running out of time."

"This could be trap." Steve said, keeping his voice even. He figured this would be a bad time to start screaming and waving his arms at the whole situation.

"Yup." Danny said. He risked meeting Steve's eyes. "Please."

The plea hung between them.

Steve grit his teeth. "Okay. Okay. We'll do this quick. No mess. Everything will be fine. Grace will be fine." he said.

Danny nodded, fingers already curling around the door handle. "Listen, Steve...if I don't...if something...Grace...would you check on Grace every once in a while? You know, just to make sure she's okay and that step-Stan isn't turning her into a completely brainwashed privileged kid?"

"Nothing's going to go wrong, Danny," Steve said evenly.

"Just-"

"Yes. Now go."

The blond nodded, slipping out of the car. He moved to the large door and after a moment gave it a sharp tug.

"Come in, Detective," he heard the voice of Edwin Murphy invite.

He stepped in and found himself drenched in darkness. Muffled sobs of both a grown woman and a little girl could be heard. He thought he might have even heard a grown man sounding much the same, but he wasn't sure.

"I'm here, Murphy." He held out his hands, his gun dangling loosely from his fingers. "Now let them go."

"Where's your partner? The infamous Lieutenant Commander?"

"He'll be along. You have to let Grace go first. You know we're not going to both waltz in here without a sign of good faith. That's not how this game is played. Let the girl go."

"You have to give something to get something, Detective." Edwin said.

"What, turning up unarmed to this little play-date of yours isn't giving something?" Danny asked.

"Can't see your partner, can't tell if he's unarmed, now can we?" Edwin returned.

Danny tensed as he heard the click of a hammer being released. "Wait, Murphy, don't'! We're both unarmed, I swear. Just send out Grace, please."

"Hmm...What do you think, Ian? Should we turn Daddy's little princess loose?"

A laugh came out of the darkness. "We could just do the man a favor and shoot the ex. Just think, Williams, no more alimony."

Danny sighed. "I don't pay alimony, Murphy. My ex traded up, in case you hadn't noticed."

Rachel muttered something under her breath which gave Danny a better gage on where they were located.

Light flooded the middle of the room, temporarily blinding the blond cop.

"Daddy!" Grace cried from the looming darkness just beyond and he felt a horrible fear grip at him. He could take anything but someone threatening his daughter.

"Me for her, Murphy," he said desperately. "It's us that you're pissed at. You'll have half of that and I'm only asking you to give up one-third of your hostages right now. Think of that." He'd get Rachel out - and Stan, damn it, if he had to - after he had Grace out. That would be the one thing he knew that Rachel and he would agree on. "Me for Grace."

Ian and Edwin exchanged a few words lost as murmurs and echoes in the dark space.

"Very well. Don't get any pleasure from terrorizing the little ones, any way." Edwin finally said aloud.

For a terrible second there was silence, before the sound of Grace's footfalls filled Danny's ears. Somehow she found him in the dark and flung her arms around his midsection.

"Daddy, don't stay." she whispered fiercely.

He knelt and hugged her briefly. "Go straight to the car, okay? No matter what happens, Steve will take care of you. I promise."

Tears stood in her eyes and she clung to him, shaking her head fiercely. He gave her a gentle push towards the door and his heart pounded in his chest as she slowly made her way towards the door. He heard the shot go off, ringing and echoing off the walls of the warehouse and when the sound of Rachel's terrified scream accompanied it he thought for one horrifying moment that the two brothers had played the cruelest trick they could. His eyes then focused on his daughter and he heard her scream when she turned to look at him.

"Oh, nice shot, brother."

"Thanks. He looks a little confused. You think I should try again?"

"Nah, give it a second."

Danny frowned, not understanding what the hell they could be talking about. It wasn't until he heard Steve shout his name from somewhere behind him -he thought, it was all getting a little fuzzy- and recognized that tone, the tone that said things were not going according to Steve's Plan (even when Steve didn't have a plan) that he looked down and saw the crimson blossoming across his shirt. He hit his knees with a rough exhale of breath.

"Run, Gracie," he gasped.

She stood, frozen for a moment, but then dashed off. He heard gunshots in the background and the sound of Steve yelling. When had he fallen all the way to the floor? Danny shifted, trying to get a look back at what was happening, but the pain had finally overtaken the numbness and he bit back a cry with the movement. And then he heard a sound that said they'd won it. He wasn't sure when Steve had called in backup, how he'd called in back up, but back up was there.

More shouts filled the air mixing with the sirens and creating a cacophony that slowly faded to white noise in Danny's mind. He felt a warm breeze and assumed someone had pushed open the door all the way. The breeze carried with it the smell of flowers, gun powder, the sea and blood. He closed his eyes. Grace was safe in the car; that much he knew.

"Oh no you don't, partner. Open your eyes, Danny."

Blue eyes fluttered open on command. His first realization was that he couldn't breathe. His breath hitched for a moment until he felt strong arms lift him up and he caught his first easier breath in what felt like an eternity. The second thing that his foggy mind hit on was that Steve was holding him.

"Steve... You're s'pose to be watchin' Gracie," Danny coughed out.

"Kono will have to do for now, buddy." Steve said. "Right now I need you to stay with me, okay? Stay awake. The ambulance is almost here."

If Steve sounded just the slightest bit desperate, neither of them mentioned it.

"Rachel?" Danny gasped.

Steve nodded. "They're safe. They're all okay."

"Remember what you promised me, 'kay?" Danny mumbled. He blinked hard, trying to keep his eyes open, but not having much success.

"I know, but it doesn't matter because you'll be up and around in no time." Steve gave a nervous glance back at the door. He could see lights flashing from an ambulance that had just driven up and someone waving them into the warehouse. "Danny?"

The man in his arms had grown unnaturally silent and still and fear gripped at him. The medics swarmed, pulling Steve away.

"Sir, you have to give us room to work."

Before he let go he leaned over, lips almost brushing Danny's ear. "You stay with me, Danno." Steve whispered fiercely. "That's an order."

The medics eased Danny onto a stretcher and before Steve knew it they had whisked him away. He shut his eyes and took several deep breaths. He was going to be okay. He had to be okay. He opened his eyes and saw Rachel and Stan being treated at another ambulance, Rachel waving her hands at the EMT, probably demanding to see her daughter. Grace.

Steve headed towards his car.

At first when he approached he didn't see anyone. He looked around for a second, hoping against hope that Kono had her, but then turning back, he saw a little brunette head just peeking over the window. As he walked closer he could see the shaking form of his partner's little girl sitting in the passenger's seat of the Camaro. He tapped on the glass to let her know he was there and she jumped, flinging the door open and almost hitting him.

"Where's my daddy?" she demanded.

Steve knelt by the side of the car and rubbed his hands on his jeans. "Gracie," he started. His throat tightened and he blinked carefully. "Grace, your Dad had to go to the hospital. If you like, I'll take you there."

Grace looked at him with wide, serious eyes, and he knew she was taking in the blood on his clothes and his hands and what he wasn't saying. "It's not good, is it?" she whispered.

He shook his head. "You're dad's a stubborn guy, though. And if there's one thing I know he'll fight for, it's you." Steve said.

Grace took a deep breath, looking past Steve to where her mother was. "I need to tell Mama."

"Okay."

"But I want you to take me."

Without waiting for an answer she dashed off to where her mother was frantically discussing something with a medic. She turned at the sound of her daughter's voice and scooped her up instantly. Steve followed at a slower pace, and stood several feet away. By the look on Rachel's face he was sure that her daughter had just declared she was riding in his car, not with her. Rachel was shaking her head and Grace was pulling away when Rachel looked up at him, glaring. She pushed the EMT away and marched towards Steve who crossed his arms over his chest. Grace ran past her mother and stood behind him, fingers gripping the edge of his t-shirt.

"Hasn't my daughter been through enough today? You want to take her off to an ER waiting room where they won't even let her in?"

"Listen," Steve said slowly, deliberately. His patience was wearing thin. "I'm going. She wants to go. I offered to take her."

Rachel looked down at her daughter and back up at her ex-husband's partner. The infamous Lt. Commander Steve McGarrett that she'd only met in passing. She'd heard Grace babble on and on both about what she herself had seen of the man and what her father had told her. She frowned deeply and leaned down to her daughter's eye level. "I'll be up there in a few minutes, okay?"

Grace pressed her face against Steve's leg. "Uncle Steve will take care of me." she said. "You should probably worry about Stan."

Steve reached down and patted her shoulder. "Okay, kiddo. Let's roll."

Rachel watched them go, face impassive. It seemed Steve McGarrett was as formidable as his reputation called for.

Danny was in surgery by the time Steve and Grace made it to the hospital. The two took a seat and it wasn't long before the little girl had curled up trustingly against Steve and fallen asleep. The former Seal stiffened at first, unsure how to react, but eventually relaxed and put an arm around her tiny shoulders. He was sure he must have drifted off. Rachel and Stan came and went multiple times. They were more of a hindrance than anything as they waited. After multiple coffee trips, Kono and Chin's arrival, a call from the governor, and hours passing the surgeon finally walked out a steady expression on his face.

"I hear I'm supposed to speak to a Steve McGarrett," he called out.

Rachel stepped forward. "I'm his ex-wife. You can talk to me." she said authoritatively.

The doctor glanced at her. "Yeah. You're not on the list. Lt. Commander McGarrett?" he tried again.

Steve was trying to figure out how to stand with the still half-sleeping child attached to him. After a moment's uncertainty, he just picked her up and stood. "That would be me." he said.

"Great." The doctor said. "Come with me, please. You can bring the kid."

Grace wrapped her arms around Steve's neck, just barely stirring against him as they walked. They followed the doctor through the winding hallways until they reached a room at the back of the ER.

"He probably won't stir much," the doctor said quietly. "The bullet did a bit of damage, and he'll be on the mend for a while."

Steve nodded and glanced in the room. Danny was hooked up to machines giving readouts of this, that, and everything. Grace blinked her eyes open and squirmed out of Steve's arms as they entered. Quietly, bravely, she approached the bed on the opposite side of her father's partner.

She pulled up the chair next to the bed and stood on it so she could have a better view of her father and grabbed his hand. "Hey, Daddy. We're here." she whispered. She glanced up at Steve. "Do you think he can hear us?" she asked.

Steve shrugged. "I don't know, kid. He's more likely to listen to you, that's for sure."

After a long moment two blue eyes warily blinked open and tried to focus on the little girl leaning over him. "Hey, monkey," he rasped. "What're you doing here?"

"Uncle Steve brought me," she answered proudly.

"Uncle Steve huh?" He squeezed her hand and glanced to the other side of the bed. "Hey, Uncle Steve."

"Hey." Steve greeted. "Doctor says you're going to be fine. No permanent damage."

"Maybe just to my pride." Danny said with a smile. He shifted his gaze back to his daughter. "You okay, sweetheart?" he whispered.

She nodded. "Yeah. Uncle Steve's been taking good care of me."

Danny chuckled at the thought of the taller man trying to console a little girl. He'd be lucky if Grace weren't scarred for life. Not by the fact that she was held hostage and nearly killed, but the last few hours that Steve had been watching out for her.

"C'mon, kiddo, let's let your dad get some sleep, huh?" Steve said and she moved around the bed and towards the door.

"Love you, Danno," Grace whispered before disappearing into the hall.

"Hey," Danny called after Steve, reaching a hand out towards him. "Thank you."

Steve stepped back and took his hand and squeezed. "I keep my promises." Steve said softly.

Danny smiled and closed his eyes.

His partner's voice stopped Steve at the door. "Hey, aren't you going to call me Danno?" Danny asked, already half asleep.

Steve laughed softly. "Yeah. Goodnight, Danno."


	4. Cold As Ice

Because You're Always Right (Part 4: Cold As Ice)

Notes: Ahh! So glad you all enjoyed the last chapter. It's always a trick to find that balance of good whump without going overboard. (Erm…no pun intended.) We've got lots more ideas for the boys, so hang on to your hats. (Or your ties.) Enjoy!

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Steve had his feet propped up on his desk and was scrolling through files related to Victor Hesse's history when the Governor's call came in. Her office had received an anonymous tip-off that Nicholas Rankin had been spotted on the island. He was wanted for three counts of murder in the state of California but had eluded capture. It was suspected that he was in Hawaii to rendezvous with his girlfriend before escaping overseas. There were two possible locations for the rendezvous: a meatpacking plant near a small private airport and a motel closer to a shipping yard.

"We're on it, Governor." Steve assured her.

He stood and headed towards his door when he caught sight of Danny through the window. He was so surprised he missed the door completely and walked into the wall next to it. Danny looked up at the soft thumping sound and narrowed his eyes in confusion as Steve backed up and opened the door to join him in the hallway.

"What is the matter with you?" Danny asked.

Steve stared at him. "What are you wearing?" he asked, sounding as surprised as he looked.

Danny shifted uncomfortably. "I didn't expect to be coming in this morning, being Sunday, but I dropped by to grab some paperwork to look over this afternoon and..." He stopped his ramble, taking a deep breath. "I got tired of you griping about my clothes all the time," he grumbled, never quite meeting Steve's eyes.

The taller man bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Danny was dressed in cargo shorts and t-shirt. No tie. Flip-flop sandals. Someone might actually mistake him for someone who wanted to be there if he'd just keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah, laugh it up. Go on."

"Well, we are working today," Steve chuckled, a grin finally tugging at his lips. "We just got a tip off on the whereabouts of Nicholas Rankin."

"Yeah? Where're we heading?"

"We're heading down to meat packing plant, and I'll send Chin and Kono over to the motel."

Steve handed Danny the printout of Rankin's information he grabbed from the printer on their way out. Danny flipped through it, frowning at the information as they got in the Camaro and headed towards the plant.

"One of the men he's suspected of killing is law enforcement." he said.

"Yeah. One of the reasons they'd like to have him back so badly." Steve said.

"Who are these other two guys he killed?" Danny asked.

Steve glanced over at him. "Business partners."

Danny made a face. "A real nice guy, huh? The kind you'd like to have over for poker night."

"Only if you've hired him to off one of the other guys at poker night." Steve replied.

"Seriously, a meat plant, though? Hotel…meat plant." Danny weighed both options sarcastically. "Because every woman wants to have a romantic rendezvous in a meat plant."

"Is that what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"With Rachel?"

"Damn it, Steve, just don't even go there." The blond sulked a moment and then chanced a glance at his partner. "You're in an abnormally good mood. It's a little scary. I keep expecting something to explode."

Steve grinned. "No explosions today. I promise."

"Oh, that's very reassuring. That gives me the same warm fuzzy feeling I got when Rachel told me our separation would be temporary." Danny grumbled.

"Your tone of voice indicates that you did not actually have a warm fuzzy feeling when she told you that." Steve said.

Danny gave him an evil glare. "I'm glad to see your capacity for understanding sarcasm hasn't diminished since the last time I saw you."

"Since yesterday? No."

"Would it be too much to hope for that you gained some sense of self preservation?" Danny asked.

Steve just smiled at him.

"Never mind. You are the proverbial bull in the china shop of life, you know that, right?"

That earned him a bigger smile.

"And mine, but default," he grumbled when he received no verbal response from his partner.

They reached the meat shop moments later. It was shut down for the weekend, but Steve assured Danny they had the appropriate warrant for the search. They slipped their vests on and checked their guns. With everything set they started around the parameter, finding the back door forced open and the lock lying on the ground.

"Guess this suite didn't come with a swipe card." Danny said.

"They probably weren't expecting housekeeping." Steve murmured.

He crouched and Danny followed suite, Steve counting to three before the two of them slipped inside. Steve came up high and Danny low, neither of them winding up with a target. The inside of the plant was dim, silent, and much cooler than outside due to the large freezer units towards the back of the building. .The packing lines jutted across the interior, creating a frightening labyrinth of creaky metal. Steve motioned to his right and Danny nodded. They would split up and inside parameter around and work their way back through the middle.

Thoughts of every horror movie he'd ever seen filled Danny's head as he made his way further and further around the parameter. Nothing was jumping out to get them, none of the machinery was turning on of its own accord, and no maniac cackling could be heard, but all that made him all the more nervous somehow. Something wasn't right. Rankin was supposed to be very bright, hence the reason he'd avoided law enforcement so long. Viscous and brilliant. He shouldn't have left the door ajar the way it had been. The thought had just made its way through his brain when Danny felt a jolt and everything went black.

Steve reached the end of the building without encountering any trace of Rankin or his girlfriend. He checked his watch and glanced around the corner of the machine he was taking cover behind, checking for any sign of Danny. He frowned when the minutes ticked by and there was still no sign of his partner. Steve scooted across the open space towards the other end of the building. If he'd missed Danny, he'd catch up to him somewhere in the middle, or if something had happened to him he'd find him on the other side. He was beginning to think it was too quiet when he got all the way to the other side near the freezers and still had found nothing. No girlfriend, no Rankin, and worst of all, no Danny.

Cool air hit him from one of the freezers that was left partially opened and he approached it slowly, cautiously, with every fiber in him screaming that it was a trap. Trap or no trap, he had to find Danny as well as Rankin. After looking around he pulled the door open the rest of the way, peering in. The cold hit him full force and he glanced inside. A single bulb was lit in the center of the fairly small room. It swung ever so slightly as if someone had just tugged the chord to turn it on. Just below lay a very still Danny, eyes closed. Steve shoved his screaming instincts down as he approached the blond, something akin to worry gripping at him.

He was so focused on his partner being so unnaturally still that he didn't hear the footstep behind him until it was too late. The heavy freezer door slammed shut just as Steve reached it and he slammed his fist against it.

"Rankin!" he barked. "Open this door right now! Rankin!"

There was no response from the other side, and the door was too thick for Steve to hear whether or not the man had walked away. He cursed softly and checked his phone. No service. Pocketing his phone and holstering his weapon, he returned to his partner.

"Danny?" he asked quietly. He slipped his fingers across his neck to the pulse point

The blond let out a low groan at the pressure and his eyes fluttered open. He blinked several times, seemingly trying to get his bearings, before a shudder ran through him and his body began to tremble.

"Don't t-tell me we're l-locked in a freakin' freezer," he growled out, irritation dripping off of every word.

"I'm afraid so. It would seem that someone got overpowered and used as bait giving our perp the opportunity to slam the door shut." Steve said. He glanced Danny over to check for visible wounds, and saw the two small puncture wounds in his chest. He frowned. "Tasered, huh? Lucky for you Rankin doesn't like to get his hands dirty. Does it hurt?"

"Of course it hurts!" the other hissed. "When we get out of here I'll taser you and you'll see if it hurts."

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he stood, moving back to the door. His hands were working their way into every possible crevice in the metal, hoping to find a way out.

"It's your fault, you know," Danny muttered from behind him, standing as well.

Steve briefly shot him a look over his shoulder but continued his search for a weak point in the door. "Oh, really? How do you figure it's my fault we're stuck in here? It wasn't even Rankin that got you, was it? Did his girlfriend taser you?"

"You should have seen it was a trap! How obvious can a trap be? They might as well have stuck a sign on me that said dear Steve McGarrett here is a trap please join us!" Danny exclaimed, rubbing his arms in an attempt to eradicate the goosebumps.

Steve abandoned the door and turned around. "Excuse me for being momentarily concerned for your well being. You haven't answered my question about the girlfriend. Was she pretty?"

"It wasn't the girlfriend," Danny growled.

"How do you know? Did you even see who tasered you, Danny?"

The blond man shot him a dark look. "You're not going to find anything."

"Oh, so in Jersey did you get locked in meat freezers often?"

"Oh yeah. Every freakin' day of my life. No, the weird shit started once I came to this hell hole and got dragged into _this_ partnership. Like I said. Your fault. Nothing like this ever happened before you came along."

A flicker of hurt crossed Steve's face before he could turn around and face the door again. "Well I'll just find a way out of here for you and let you get back to that beautiful idyllic life along the Jersey shore, then." He said stiffly. He tried squeezing his fingers into the tiny space where the door met the frame, but it was as snug and secure as could be. He checked his phone again for good measure and still found no service available. If Chin and Kono found nothing at the hotel and figured out that they weren't checking in, they would probably come looking for them.

Eventually.

He glanced back at Danny, who was standing in the same place that he'd been sitting moments before, quickly rubbing his arms and trying to retain some heat. He felt a shudder of cold shake his own frame and he leaned against the door, instantly regretting it as the bitter cold bit through his t-shirt.

"How long you think before Chin and Kono figure out we're missing?" Danny asked, plopping back down to the floor and pulling his knees up to his chest. He looked up to his partner, surprised when an answer was immediate.

"Maybe an hour, depending if they find anything or not," Steve answered at last.

"And how long do we have before we're human popsicles?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged and began wandering their small area, looking for anything to pry into the door.

"Maybe forty-five minutes or an hour. Maybe longer if you keep talking and filling the space with hot air." Steve found nothing useful and sighed, resigning himself to the wait. He sat down ten or so feet away from Danny and drew up his own knees.

"Of all the days."

Steve glanced over at his partner, the question obvious.

Danny frowned. "Of all the days I had to take your stupid advice on clothes."

"Really? I'm getting blamed for that too?"

"Might as well."

"I have a news flash for you, Danno. You're tie isn't thermal and it wouldn't have helped you here."

Danny glared again and huffed, folding his arms against his knees and burying his face in them. He was cold and irritable and really hadn't meant to be at work at all that day. It just seemed to be a running theme: if Steve was around, he was bound to get into some sort of trouble. It wasn't that Steve specifically set out to throw them into dangerous positions, he knew, but somehow he always seemed to be the one landing the worst of it. He sighed heavily and glanced up when he heard his partner shifting. He jumped slightly when he found Steve directly next to him. Damn ninja.

"I'm still pissed," Danny grumbled and the two leaned in together trying to gain as much heat as they could from the other.

"And I swear, Steve, if this whole ordeal gets out and becomes something else for you to make fun of me for..."

Dark blue eyes shifted into a half glare. "Goes both ways."

"So we're clear."

"Crystal."

They couldn't scoot much closer without piling into each other's laps.

Danny shivered miserably and tried to tuck himself against Steve as close as he could. "This is just freakin' fantastic. I'm going to freeze to death in the middle of one hundred and ten degree weather Hawaii, land of one endless sand trap and every violent criminal known to mankind who all happen to come after you. Why can't they do something more constructive with their time?" Danny grumbled.

"Like be productive citizens?" Steve asked, shifting to wrap his arms around his partner.

Danny curled into the additional warmth like a cat clinging to the last patch of sunlight on a kitchen floor. "No! Like rob stupid Stan or rope him into a fraud scheme so I could arrest his stupid ass. Then maybe I could get more time with Gracie. Although it would be hard to do that even if Rachel would allow it because I have to work and if she's gone and I have to work -or get trapped in a freezer for an afternoon- I don't even know anyone I could trust enough to watch her for a couple of hours."

"I'd watch her for you," Steve offered through chattering teeth.

Danny sniffed against the cold and his partner wasn't sure if that was a cough or a laugh that left his throat. "Two problems with that. One, we're usually in trouble together. Two, I wouldn't trust you to watch her. You'd warp her or something."

"I watched her once before," Steve countered.

"When did you ever watch my daughter?"

Steve tensed and Danny wished he could see the other's face but he wasn't willing to move. "What? When did you watch her?" "You know. That time the Murphy's. I took Gracie to the hospital. We... uh...bonded. I'm Uncle Steve, you know."

Any color that might have been left in Danny's face drained. "Uncle Steve?" he echoed.

Steve gave the barest of shrugs. "You didn't seem to have a problem with it then."

"I don't remember that. You're not Uncle Steve. That's creepy."

"Chin gets to be Uncle Chin."

"Chin is different. He's...less of a human death trap." Danny protested.

"I only thought it was creepy when you called me Uncle Steve." Steve mumbled.

Danny made a choking sound and briefly weighed moving away to the shock of new cold that would accompany it.

"What the hell?" he demanded instead. "I never called you that."

"Yes you did. In the hospital."

"I didn't even know Grace called you that until just now! How could I have called you that?"

"Could have been the cocktail of painkillers they had you on, Danno," Steve chuckled.

"I plead the fifth." Danny said with a sigh.

They fell silent, Danny noticing how badly Steve was starting to shiver.

"Hey." Steve mumbled against his shoulder.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Can I ask you something?"

"No. I'm busy right now." Danny waited, but Steve said nothing. "Well?"

"You said you were busy."

"I hate you so much.

"Can you hold me?"

"_What_?"

"I can't feel my left arm anymore."

"No. No, no, and furthermore no."

"I've been holding you," Steve argued drowsily.

Danny risked a glance at his partner and saw how white his face had gotten against his dark hair and he briefly wondered if he looked as bad. "Damn it, Steve," he grumbled, squirming out from under the other's arm and wrapping his own around Steve's shoulder, pulling him in. "This never happened."

He tugged Steve closer so the man was practically hugging Danny's knees and Danny curled around him as best he could. Absently he rubbed Steve's arm.

"Stay awake, okay? Chin and Kono have got to find us soon. A crazy guy like you needs all his fingers and toes to keep your balance when you jump onto boats and out of fast moving objects and climbs mountains in two leaps."

"Single bound."

"I don't need your ego that big, Superman. Two leaps. No single bounds for you."

Steve chuckled. They were silent for several long moments before Danny perked.

"Did you hear that?" he murmured, looking towards the door.

"Hmm?"

"I could have sworn... Hang on." Danny unfolded and stood very slowly, stiffly and moved towards the door. "Chin?" he yelled at the door. "Chin!"

Very faintly they could hear Chin calling Danny's name from the other side of the door. Danny cheered. "Steve! Steve, come on." The blonde ran back to his partner and his hands under Steve's arms, hauling him up. Steve protested half-heartedly but allowed Danny to help him up. "Chin! Get us out of here!"

The door was tugged open and Danny and Steve almost ran Chin over getting out. The Hawaiian blinked in surprise. "Are you two okay?" he asked, following them as the shuffled towards the door. Danny had never been so thankful for the blazing sun or the island weather in his existence. He might never complain about Hawaii again. Or at least for a while.

Steve and Danny stood together shivering in the sunlight, both basking in the warmth.

"I want you to know," Danny said, "that I will never, never wear shorts into the office again."

Steve grinned. "What, like that could happen again?"

"Don't say that. Don't even say that. I would bang my head against a wall until I was unconscious if I ever got stuck in a freezer with you again to spare myself the agony. I hope you get sick."

"I don't get sick," Steve informed him.

"Yeah, ya know-" Danny started, but was interrupted by a sneeze. "Damn it! Your fault!"

Steve lightly punched his shoulder. "Let's go get your thermal tie, Danno. You're going to need something to wipe your nose with."

"I hate you. I hate you so much."


	5. Hot Toddy

Because You're Always Right (Part 5: Hot Toddy)

Notes: Ya'll are amazing! We are so loving this show, and last night's episode had some fantastic moments. (Pantless Danno, hello!) We're so glad you all are enjoying the shorts (which are continuously getting longer, sorry ^^;)! And fear not, there is Steve whumping to come, probably in the chapter after next. As always, enjoy!

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After the freezer case had been wrapped up - Kono and Chin apprehending their criminal - Danny had not come into work the next day. Being that there was nothing pressing; Steve hadn't bothered him about it. If Danny Williams was out there was a good reason. It was the second day of no calls and no Danny that had him slightly worried and, by dinner time, at his partner's front door. Blinds were pulled down over the large windows so that he couldn't see in and Steve knocked firmly against the door. There was no response from within the small place and Steve banged his fist against the door again.

"Danno?" he called.

He was granted the knowledge his partner was alive when a loud sneeze resounded from within. This was followed by a long set of coughing, punctuated with another sneeze, this time closer to the front door. The door opened a crack, and Steve was greeted by a bleary blue eye.

"Are you trying to kill me? Could you knock any louder? Go away." Danny said, closing the door. Steve held up a bag just before Danny disappeared from sight which stopped the door.

"What's that?" Danny asked suspiciously.

"Food."

"Good food or good for you food?"

"Good food."

"You're lying."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Both. Would you open the door, please?"

"There is no such thing as both," the other grumbled hoarsely, coughing again. He stepped away from the door, allowing it to swing open, and Steve stepped in. The blond detective was trying to make his way back to the couch - he hadn't even bothered to fold out the bed - without being thrown off balance by the fit. He sank down weakly to the cushions and glared in his partner's direction.

"Why are you in my apartment?" he demanded through a stuffed nose.

"Because you let me in." Steve replied easily, heading to the small kitchen. "I didn't want it to be my fault as well when you turned up dead from pneumonia or influenza..."

"Or the common cold." Danny supplied.

"Yes. Caught in the most uncommon of manners. When was the last time you ate?"

"And whose fault is that?" Danny grumbled pathetically. "I don't know... maybe yesterday? Sometime. 'm not hungry."

Steve lifted an eyebrow and continued to unpack the food he'd brought. "You should eat."

"Yes, Mom."

"I'm serious. You don't eat, you'll get sicker, which means more recovery time and I could need you in the field before then, princess. Where do you keep your silverware?"

Danny had wrapped himself in a blanket and curled into one corner of the couch and was staring at Steve as if he'd grown a second head. "You are unbelievable. All I want to do is wallow in self-pity in peace and you come waltzing in here and expect me to be grateful? If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be sick!"

Steve found the silverware on his own and began dishing out soup into a bowl. "This from the man that expects an apology from his partner when the bad guy shoots him."

Steve covered the distance between them and handed Danny the bowl of soup.

"I hate soup."

Steve made a face. "I've seen you eat soup before."

"When?"

"I don't know. I don't mark it on the calendar. I just know I've seen you eat soup before, so eat it."

"I don't when I'm sick."

"Then what do you eat?" the taller man asked, halfway dropping the bowl into his partner's hands so he had to take it.

"Nothing."

"That's your problem."

Steve returned to the kitchen, pulling out other groceries from his bag. Danny glared at him over spoonfuls of soup, which he would never admit out loud was actually very good.

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'd survived just fine before you came along, and that's with not eating when I don't feel good."

"Are you eating the soup?"

"Yes, I'm eating the soup. What, you can't see me over here eating the soup?"

"I'm not watching you eat the soup. But know that if you don't eat the soup by your own volition then I will feed the soup to you." Steve warned. He found a tea kettle, filled it and set it on the stove.

"Is that brandy?" Danny asked.

"Yes."

"What are you going to do with that?"

"Put it in a cup of tea. If you eat all the soup."

"That doesn't work," the blond grumbled, shoveling another spoonful of soup into his mouth.

"Have you ever tried it?" Steve called back.

Danny started to answer, but then decided against it as his head pounded and his stomach rolled with the fresh, hot soup just being put on it. He set the cup down on the floor and curled into himself, feeling rotten. Steve came over to take the bowl and leaned over Danny, pressing the palm of his hand against Danny's forehead. Danny automatically leaned into the cool touch, wishing only for sleep and to wake up not feeling the same way. Steve made a dissatisfied noise at the heat radiating from his partner's body and grabbed the bowl off the floor.

"I may need to go get you cold medication." he murmured quietly.

"I tried. Couldn't keep it down," Danny mumbled, leaning against the side of the couch. His eyes lulled until they were almost shut, peering just beneath his blond lashes at Steve. "Just need to sleep."

"How much have you had to drink today?"

"I told you that it doesn't work."

Steve rolled his eyes and set Danny's bowl on the counter. "Water," he said with strained patience.

"Couple glasses. Had some Gatorade, too. I'm not completely helpless, you know." Danny said.

Steve came back and pressed a warm mug into his hands. "Here. Even if you don't drink it, keep it close to your face. The steam might help open up your sinuses a little." he said.

Danny looked as if he might say something snarky for a moment, but then either decided not to out of genuine gratefulness or exhaustion. Instead he simply took the cup and did as Steve had ordered. He watched tiredly as the dark haired commander moved around his small apartment, not bothering to comment about the complete disaster zone that it had become. As he watched him, a thought suddenly hit the blond.

"What day is it?"

"Tuesday." Steve said absently, putting things away as he went like a human roomba. "Why?"

"Would you stop that? I'm not going to be able to find anything later. Sit down." Danny said.

Steve paused, stack of papers in hand. He started to put them down, picked them back up, and then at Danny's dark look put them down again. "What about the day?"

"Did I call in?"

"No."

"Sorry."

Steve moved and took a seat at the far end of the couch. A frown tugged at his lips. "I think you get a pass for this one," he murmured, eyebrows slightly knit.

"What?" Danny demanded.

"What what?" the other responded.

"You... That's a weird face."

"What is it with you and commenting on my face?"

"You make weird expressions."

Steve threw his hands up, not willing to argue the point.

"So what's the matter?" Danny pressed again after a particularly loud sneeze.

Steve grabbed a box of tissues off the coffee table and handed it to Danny.

"I don't like you being sick." he said finally.

Danny frowned and cautiously took a long sip of the tea. "You don't like me being sick?"

"Why do you repeat half of what I say?"

"Mainly because you make no sense. It's an invitation to explain yourself further."

Steve shook his head and then shrugged. For half a moment he looked as if he might have given some insight into what he was thinking - might have actually have sounded human - but finally just snorted and rolled his eyes. "What good are you to me when you're curled up sneezing yourself half to death?"

Danny stared at him again, took another sip and then pointed to the door. "Get out." he said flatly.

Steve's lips twitched in a smirk before his expression became serious. "It's no fun not having you at the office." he said quietly.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Danny asked. "I'm afraid my ears are all clogged up."

Steve rolled his eyes. "You heard me."

"No... I don't think I did."

"I said it's no fun not having you in the office," Steve bit out irritably.

"See, was that so bad?"

"Little pieces of my soul just died."

"For a soulless man you make a pretty good cup of tea."

"Be careful. I may have put a soul stealing potion in it."

"Soul sucking hot toddy. You put that at the top or the bottom of your resume, Mr. McGarrett?"

Steve cracked a grin. "Top. You may not be able to see straight by the bottom."

The two men chuckled at this, Danny's laughter turning into coughs that required a snarky remark from his partner. They continued on until Danny had finished his drink and had fallen asleep curled up on the couch. Steve stood from his spot, watching the blond cop carefully. His face was still tinged red with fever and he looked horrible, but he'd be feeling better by the next day at least, that much he knew. After a moment of looking he found an old quilt in the closet and tucked the extra blanket around the sick man's shoulder, chuckling to himself as Danny mumbled in his sleep and shifted. He ruffled the blond hair and felt his partner's forehead, which was a little cooler than before. He grabbed paperwork he brought with him and settled in for the long haul. At least he had plenty of tea on hand.

Danny stirred the next morning with a slight crick in his neck from sleeping on the couch. He stretched, yawning widely and feeling much better than when he'd gone to sleep the evening before. His nose was still slightly stuffy, but at least his head didn't feel like it was going to explode at any given moment. He glanced around the room, absently wondering if Steve had left any of that soup for him.

Finally his eyes landed on the slouched figure of his partner, sound asleep in a chair with paperwork half fallen from his lap. Danny decided that the warm feeling he suddenly got was from being under the blankets for too long. He was beginning to think this whole partner and friend thing might work out after all. Steve began to stir which knocked the papers the rest of the way to the floor. He blinked several times and ran a hand through his hair, unintentionally spiking it in front. Danny titled his head in puzzlement as Steve made a face that he couldn't identify.

Steve was very still for several seconds, sucked in a deep breath, and sneezed loudly.

The blond tried to hold in his laughter. He should feel bad. He did feel bad. Really. Honest. "Don't get sick my ass," he chuckled, unable to stop himself.

Steve shot him a glare. "I'm not sick."

"Yeah. Uh-huh. First it starts with sneezing. By mid morning you won't be able to breathe, you'll be coughing, your throat will be sore..." Danny sat up, making sure that he would indeed be steady enough to move around.

Steve looked like he might protest, but another sneeze shook him.

Danny padded over to him, handing him the box of tissues. "You want that hot toddy now or later?" he asked with a grin.

Steve begrudgingly took the tissues. "This is what I get for being nice."

Danny grinned widely, almost mischievously. "Oh don't worry, Steve. I'll take good care of you."


	6. Free Falling

Because You're Always Right (Part 6: Free Falling)

Note: We are so very grateful for all of your gracious reviews! I'm so very glad you find them in keeping with the show. Please enjoy this next bit, in which you will have to forgive us logistics and grace us with a suspension of disbelief. :D (…You'll see.) Enjoy!

* * *

Danny swung his fist and made contact with a jaw belonging to one of the ugliest men he'd ever laid eyes on. He'd seen Halloween skeletons with smoother features than the guy currently trying to maim, incapacitate, or kill him. Danny would probably put money on the kill option, judging from the way the fight was going for both him and for Steve. He was almost grateful for the fight which served as a distraction to the rushing sound of the air just outside the open side of the plane. He ducked as his attacker charged at him again.

"It's okay, really. I don't take it personally. I'd want to kill things if I looked like you, too." he said, backing away.

The man let out a growl-like sound that made Danny wince. He wasn't sure how he'd gotten fat, huge, and ugly as his arrest, but somehow Steve had made claims on the other guy. Moving quicker than the lumbering mountain, the blond ducked behind him and all but jumped on his back trying to subdue him. He reached around for the cuffs in his back pocket as the man started to stumble, taking him with him.

Steve wrestled his target to the floor of the aircraft and fought to keep him there.

"Sato, if you continue to resist this arrest you'll regret it!" Steve shouted over the rushing sound. Sato twisted in his grip and tried to bite Steve's arm. Steve grabbed him by the hair and bounced his head off the floor of the plane. Sato ceased to resist arrest. Steve flipped him over and cuffed him before turning to the pilot.

"Take this plane back to the airstrip if you want to keep your skull in one piece." He barked.

Danny's target, Jon Lum, was not cooperating as well as Sato had. Lum had slammed Danny against the side of the aircraft, knocking the detective loose and sending him to the floor. Lum seized the opportunity and grabbed Danny by the collar, hoisting him to his feet and towards the open door.

The dazed detective came back to awareness just in time to see what was happening and get a strangled "No no no!" out of his throat before he felt the burst of wind and the far too quick drop down towards the earth.

"_Danno_!" His partner's name was barely off his lips and Steve was moving. There was no time to think, no time to second guess leaving the three criminals alone in the airplane, no time to make sure his heart was still beating -he was fairly certain it wasn't-, no time to even consider the logistics of what he was about to do. His mind screamed at him and all he could focus on was getting to Danny. He ran, holstering his gun and grabbing a parachute pack hanging off one of the racks on the side of the plane. He shoved Lum out of the way, lashed the harness to himself and jumped.

The air that hit him was cold as he straightened his body to increase his speed as much as he could. His mind raced with rules and regulations about jumps. How high was he? What was the lowest altitude that he could open the chute? Would the chute hold them both? All of it mixed together and he crashed into his partner - thankfully Danny had had presence enough of mind to spread out and slow himself down even slightly - hitting hard and latching onto him.

Steve thought furiously, trying to gage the right moment to pull the line before realizing Danny would have to reach back and do it. He couldn't risk loosening his grip on his partner for fear of not being able to reach him a second time. He leaned close to Danny's ear and wrapped his arms more tightly around him.

"Danny! You're going to have to pull the cord! Reach back and take it!" Steve shouted.

Danny gave the barest of nods as he did what he was told. His fingers wrapped around the chord and the chute went up, tugging both men harshly. For a moment Steve thought he was going to lose his grip on his partner, but Danny clung just as tightly to Steve as Steve clung to him. Even with the tug upwards Steve felt like the ground was rushing at them quicker than he'd ever seen it before.

Danny kept his gaze on the perfectly blue Hawaiian sky, refusing to look down at his imminent doom. He dug his fingers into Steve's skin, knowing his grip would leave bruises by the next day. If they lived that long. It seemed like they had slowed some, but Danny wasn't sure.

"Hang on, Danno!" Steve yelled. "This landing is going to be rough."

"It's got to be better than it would have been!" Danny yelled back.

"We'll see!"

They landed hard. Steve immediately lost his grip on his partner as Danny bounced - literally - and rolled several feet away. The former Seal's chute kept him mostly in one place, but didn't soften his landing any more than the blonde's. Steve lay there for a moment, feeling the wind tug at the open chute and finally struggled to sit up, tugging the harness off of his already sore body. He stumbled towards Danny and fell next to him.

"Danno? Danno, are you okay?" Steve asked, voice raspy from shouting.

Danny groaned and rolled to one side. Steve helped him sit up, feeling for broken bones.

"Hey." Danny said softly. "Are we dead?"

Steve pushed out a breath of air that could have been a laugh. "No, I don't think so. Not unless your idea of paradise has switched islands from Coney to Oahu."

Danny started laughing, and then found he couldn't stop. He wrapped an arm around Steve's neck before pulling him in for a full hug and pressing his face into his partner's shoulder. "You crazy, beautiful bastard." he gasped between laughs.

Steve stiffened awkwardly at first, but then relaxed and draped an arm around his grateful partner. "I'll have you know I gave up the bad guy to come get you."

Danny's laughter subsided. "Really?" he asked, pulling back and watching Steve's expression for any sign that he was joking. When he found none and his mind had time to process the fact that there wouldn't have been an other way for Steve to have followed him so quickly, he gave a half smile. "Thanks, partner," he said genuinely.

Steve smiled back, only hesitating when the image of Danny disappearing out of the plane flashed briefly in his mind's eye. He squeezed Danny's shoulder and hugged him back again. "Luckily for us they weren't very intelligent criminals and we know they'll be back for the kilos they hid. I guess we should call Kono and see if she'll pick us up."

"Yes, please call Kono and explain to her why we're in the middle of nowhere with no suspects to show for our efforts. Do you know how to execute a warrant without getting yourself executed? The next time we make an arrest it will be with proper paperwork and on the ground. No boats, no planes." Danny said firmly.

Steve choked back laugh. "No promises."

"A little warning then?"

"I'll try."

"Great. Wonderful." The blond shook his head and stood very slowly, feeling shaky. He glanced up to where he thought the plane might have been when they'd gone tumbling out of it.

"At least I didn't throw the pilot out," Steve offered as he joined him standing.

Danny glared up at him. "Oh yeah. Brownie points for that."

Steve smiled and patted him on the back. "Come on. Let's call Kono and get rolling. That guy's got my cuffs. We've got to catch them."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Of course have to catch them."

"Do you know why we have to catch them?" he asked, mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Well, gee, Steve, let me think. Because they're criminals moving drugs between the islands? Because they've broken the law? Because they're menaces to society? Because that one guy will get better dental coverage in jail?"

"Well, yes."

"Okay, riddle face, tell me why else we have to catch them."

"So you can-"

"No!" Danny exclaimed, shoving Steve's arm. "No, no. Stop. I'm walking away now."

Steve laughed as he called out "Book 'em, Danno" as said detective walked away, shaking his head.


	7. Carry That Weight

Because You're Always Right (Part 7: Carry That Weight)

Note: Hello! Ya'll are so lovely! For those who wanted some Steve whump, this edition is for you. Enjoy!

The source was trustworthy, Danny had said. It had been handed to him when he had first transferred and had been solid since he'd been there. Never once had the source led him astray and it wouldn't this time. Steve had been hesitant at first, but then the blond detective had reminded him that this was a partnership and eventually Steve would have to give some in it.

That's when Steve had agreed.

In the grand scheme of things, Danny didn't regret much. All of his decisions were solid, even if he didn't like the outcome or partial outcome of them. For once he regretted his decision to trust his source. He struggled to sit up, his ears still ringing from the explosion, arm aching from where he had rolled on it when he was thrown, and his ribs screaming in protest. He finally got to his knees, looked around and decided that he regretted the decision to trust his source more than anything. Panic began to rise in him when he didn't see his partner.

"Steve!" he shouted.

He stumbled gracelessly to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. It couldn't have been possible for Steve to get all the way around to the back of the abandoned storefront and inside before the building blew. Danny decided that was his truth: that his partner wasn't inside, that he was just dazed on the ground. He ran around, making it all the way to the back without finding a trace of Steve. Heart pounding in his ears he dashed up to the building, still calling for his silent friend. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, cursing it loudly when it gave no response. Apparently it wasn't overly fond of being fallen on. He shook it several times, hitting it against his palm before it finally jumped to life, fuzzing a little. He dialed quickly.

"This is Detective Williams with the 5-0 unit. We need medical assistance. There's been a building collapse and I think my partner was inside."

The voice on the other end told him to remain calm. She would send medical back up right then as well as the fire department. He needed to stay calm and, whatever he did, not enter the building. At least she would have said that if the phone hadn't died. Danny threw it. He hated the damn thing anyway he decided as he started looking for an entry point.

The blonde detective shouldered his way in past the bent doorframe, coughing against the smoke and dust hanging in the air like a thick, gray curtain.

"Steve! Answer me!"

It was difficult to see, or make out the way the layout should have been pre-detonation. Half the building had folded in on itself, and the other half was creaking ominously. The one time he'd insisted on his own way and it literally blows up in his face.

"Typical." Danny mumbled. "Steve! You'd better not be dead, you hear me? I'm not explaining that to Gracie. Steve!"

He turned when he heard something shift. Blue eyes searched through debris, finding nothing, and he had turned and about decided it was just the room about to collapse in and take him down too when he heard a struggled cough and groan from beneath the wreckage. He hadn't known he could move quite so fast and was suddenly at the spot, digging. It took only seconds to reveal Steve's arm, curled around his head for protection. It was as if his Seal tattoo had acted as a ward against the injurious materials aimed straight for that thick skull. The rest of him hadn't been so lucky, Danny realized as he pulled away more bricks and pieces of drywall. He paused to lay his fingers against Steve's neck to check his pulse, and pull his hand away from his face to check for any head trauma.

"Hey, buddy. Can you hear me?"

Steve groaned, looking as if he was trying to wake but having a hard time of it. Danny continued to try to get rid of as much of the debris as he could, murmuring to him all the while. He heard his voice speeding up as he became more and more desperate for a response. A creak resounded through the old building and the blond detective realized what it meant last second and threw himself over his partner, shielding him as more ceiling came crashing down around them. Danny cursed lowly as a thick piece of ceiling bounced off his shoulder blade, but he refused to move away from Steve. The building stilled but still groaned, its death cries warning of more throes to come. Danny shook plaster and dust out of his hair. He looked down to find deep blue eyes watching him sleepily.

"Steve?" he asked again, brushing his hand against the other's forehead.

"Don't feel so good, Danno." Steve said thickly. He blinked several times as if trying to focus on him, but having little success.

"Could be because you had half a building fall on you, buddy," the blond answered, voice sounding choked. It was the dust, he told himself. Really. He reached over and ran his shaking hand through Steve's dark hair which was streaked with dust. With an unsteady breath he continued his work of uncovering the former Seal with renewed haste.

"Med team should be on the way," he promised as he dug.

"Hope they bring some painkillers." Steve said with a grin, wincing when his laugh caused him more pain that he'd anticipated. "I think I could use a cocktail with lunch." he added, coughing again.

Danny shot him a look, but his comeback died with a sharp intake of breath. He reached up and cradled the side of Steve's face in one hand, thumb skimming over his bottom lip. Danny looked down at his hand. Blood smeared along his skin and he wiped it quickly on his pants.

"Hey, funny man, save your breath. You're going to disturb the force and bring the rest of this place down, you know." he said.

Steve smiled tiredly. He continued to watch as Danny dug, finally making to some of the large pieces that pinned his partner down. The dark haired man lifted a freed arm shakily to the blonde's shoulder.

"You're bleeding," he murmured groggily.

Danny's first response was sarcastic, but he bit it back with some effort. "I'm fine. Just a scratch. Heaven knows I've had worse since you and I partnered up, and will in the future."

"Glad I chose you," Steve murmured, his voice sounding even more distant before. "Glad you stayed."

"'Course I stayed," Danny answered, grabbing his friend's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Now you have to stay. No, Steve, you can't fall asleep. Stay with me."

Danny felt the barest of pressure against his fingers from the hand he still held, and Steve's eyes slid shut.

"_No_." Danny said, voice thick with the sudden, overwhelming emotions flooding his veins. He cradled Steve's hand against his chest and threaded his finger's through Steve's hair with his other hand. Tears burned his eyes. "You are the most stubborn human being I've ever had the privilege to be stuck with so don't you give up on me now. Don't you dare check out on me." he whispered. "Steve!"

The sound of sirens could be heard outside the building and Danny wasn't sure how long they'd been sounding. The only thing that caused him to note them at that moment was the sound of rescuers calling out for them.

"Here! He's in here!" Danny called back desperately.

He saw the firemen round the corner, careful not to hit something that might bring down the rest of the building.

"Detective Williams?" one asked.

"Yes. That's me. Listen, my partner's stuck under here and I haven't been able to get him out."

"Sir, step back. We'll get him out and get him help."

They ushered Danny back and the blond felt a knot form in his stomach.

"Detective, there's a clear path right through there," another fireman offered, pointing the way they'd come. "You really should go outside."

Time seemed to slow to a heart-aching pace and Danny licked his lips, for the first time realizing how tight his throat was and how dry his mouth had become. He absently rubbed his injured arm.

"No, I've got to wait for him." he said slowly, deliberately. "I'm going with him."

The firefighter realized it would take more effort to convince the detective to go on ahead and merely nodded. "Just be careful. If the place starts to cave you go. We'll have your partner out in no time."

He carefully maneuvered closer to where his co-workers were trying to make sure that both the building and Steve were stable enough to attempt the move and radioed into the hospital that they'd be bringing in two law enforcement, one in shock and one with internal injuries. Danny shivered at the sound of his report. He felt almost like he was in a trance as he watched them lift his partner's too-still body onto a stretcher to carry him out. The firefighter that had spoken to him touched his uninjured shoulder carefully.

"Detective?"

Danny nodded in response and they picked their way out of the building. The air was cool when it hit him and he realized night had set in at some point or another. He shuddered slightly at the strange coolness and he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Danny!" Kono's eyes were wide and frightened at the sight before her. She reached out and touched his arm and he tried to smile for her, failing miserably.

"It was..." he took a deep breath."It was a set-up, Kono. We're going to need to talk to our leads again." he swallowed and reached up to squeeze her hands. "I have to go with Steve, now."

Kono nodded. "Of course. It's going to be okay, Danny. Chin and I will make some calls and meet you up there, okay?" she said, keeping herself calm for his sake. She hugged him gently and kissed his cheek. "We'll be right behind you."

He nodded, managing a half smile. "Thanks." he whispered.

"Detective, we need to go." the firefighter called.

Danny nodded and he was guided into the ambulance with the understanding that he needed to stay seated no matter what and stay out of their way. By the time that he took his seat his partner was already hooked up to more machines than Danny thought possible. Steve's eyes were fluttering but shut and they slipped an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. The detective wanted to ask if he'd be okay- he looked so pale lying there on the gurney - but was worried that he'd disrupt their focus. He'd be okay. He had to be okay. He was almost convinced that Steve McGarrett was indestructible.

When the paramedics had settled some, seemingly have done all they could for the duration of the ride, Danny slipped his hand onto the gurney and over his partner's fingers. He closed his eyes and made silent confessions to cover every fervent prayer he could make to God and St. Michael and Steve's dad if he was out there watching over his boy.

"Have you two been working together a long time?" the EMT asked.

Danny opened his eyes and glanced at the baby faced EMT's nametag. The shiny name badge simply read "Michaels" and Danny smiled tiredly. "No." he said.

Michaels looked puzzled. "You must be good friends, then."

Danny's grip tightened reflexively around Steve's hand. "We're getting there. Give us time." he said wryly. Michaels still looked puzzled and Danny took a deep breath.

"He's stubborn and obnoxious and doesn't' know when to quit, but that's what makes him good, I guess."

The other EMT in the ambulance glanced at the blond. "You're the new 5-0 team, right? We've heard about you guys."

"Yeah, I guess we're kind of regulars," Danny admitted softly.

They pulled up to the hospital and Steve was rushed off to surgery. Danny himself was placed into an ER room to have his shoulder stitched up. He waited in silence, wishing he hadn't pitched his phone earlier so he could check with Kono and Chin on the status of their leads which would make him feel slightly less helpless. He'd already decided that he and his source were going to have a meeting with some quality face-to-face time, or if Danny got his way some serious fist-to-face time. He had emphasized to Steve (more than once) that it was at the very least polite to apologize to one's partner after getting said partner shot. He wasn't sure what one owed their partner for getting them blown up.

As he waited, only the sounds of the ER to keep him company, he felt his breath hitch to think of his dark haired friend lying so pale and still on the filthy floor of the old building with half the ceiling fallen in around him. The blood on his lips seemed to stand out more vividly than anything in the detective's memory and he had just stood to go demand some sort of an update - not that it had really been long enough for one, but that was beside the point - on Steve. He'd made it fifteen feet down the hall when a young female doctor who identified herself as Dr. Parker stopped him and herded him back into his room despite his protests.

"I need to know what's happening with my partner." he insisted as she sat him down on the edge of the bed.

"Has the nurse not been in to see you? We're going to need your insurance information and I'm going to need you to take off that shirt so I can look at that nasty cut you've got." she said, ignoring his demands.

"Please, I've got to know what's going on. His name is-"

"McGarrett, I know." she said. "Of McGarrett and Williams, I've heard. I practically had to beat down people to take your case. Although I'm not sure why, it seems like you'll be back sometime next week."

Danny stared at her, stunned. "I didn't know we were making that much of a name for ourselves. We have two other people-"

"Chin and Kono. I know. I was told. Apparently they're better at this whole special ops thing than you are." Parker said, helping him ease out of the shirt. "And your partner is stable, by the way. He'll be in surgery for a while, though."

Danny visibly relaxed at this news, but stiffened as she began poking at the wound.

"I hear a roof collapsed on the two of you," she murmured conversationally.

"Yeah."

"You know, my father was a doctor here before me and I never heard the kind of stories from him growing up as I've heard about the two of you."

Danny let out a low hiss as she started to disinfect his shoulder. "Easy, Doc," he grumbled.

"Really? A roof fell in on you and you're going to be a baby about it now?"

"Are you related to Steve?"

"What?"

"Never mind. Don't ask."

A nurse came in with two IV bags and attached them to Danny's arm. He started to feel drowsy and struggled against it.

"What'd you give me?" he demanded.

"Some painkillers, Detective. Sewing this up is not going to be a walk in the park. Just relax. We'll have you stitched up in no time, you can sleep some and you can see your partner when you wake up."

Danny felt the nurse guiding him to lie on his side, and he couldn't resist the siren call of sleep any longer.

He woke some time later, feeling groggy and sore, like a roof had fallen in on him. Oh wait, it had, he thought sourly. Danny blinked his eyes open slowly and searched the room. Nurses moved outside of it, but none seemed to notice that he was stirring, and he sat up, feeling the tug of fresh stitches in his shoulder. Slowly he reached around, pulling the IV from his arm and swinging his legs off the bed. He needed to find out if there was any news about Steve. A plain white t-shirt had been left on the single chair in the room, and Danny carefully pulled it on, groaning at the discomfort in his back and shoulder. He might not be able to see it, but he knew there must be a bruise the size of his home state marking the skin.

He slipped out of the room, deciding to put his detective skills to good use. The clock over the nurse's station read a little after midnight, which meant he must have been out for three or three and a half hours. Steve would have to be out of surgery by now. He would pray that was the case. He followed the signs to the ICU, and ducked through the doors behind an orderly who paid him no attention. Another nurse's station loomed ahead, and he figured Steve's name and room number would be on the board behind it.

"Detective Williams!"

Danny turned to see Dr. Park barreling down the hall, her face contorted in irritation. Blue eyes had just landed on his partner's name when she reached him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Detective?"

"I told you before that I needed to find Steve," Danny said as if it answered everything.

"You have not been cleared!" Dr. Parker exclaimed.

"You should really keep your voice down. We're in the ICU, it's after midnight, and there are people trying to sleep here. Have some consideration?" Danny said.

She flushed red and opened her mouth to direct him back to the emergency room, but he held a hand up to silence her.

"I understand you've got a job to do, and I understand how difficult it is to have somebody breaking all the rules and rushing headlong into things and making your life that much more difficult. However," Danny took a deep breath, "My choices today got my partner nearly crushed to death. Right now he is my priority. You fixed my shoulder and thank you, but I'm a big boy and I will take it from here. I'll make sure my department files all the right forms. So thank you and good night." he finished, turning away from her.

He strode stiffly towards the room the board claimed held his partner, and didn't feel bad about the smug feeling he got from the speechlessness he left behind him. He risked a glance back down the hall as he quietly opened Steve's door, noting with satisfaction Dr. Parker still standing there.

He shut the door behind him and exhaled slowly. The sound of machines beeping in the dimly lit room met him. Steve lay motionless on the bed, eyes closed and breathing steady. No mask covered his face and Danny was relieved to see that no tube was down his throat. He was apparently breathing on his own. The blonde padded over, realizing for the first time since leaving his own small room that he was barefoot and stopped next to the bed. Even though all the machinery read normal, he felt something tighten in his stomach to see Steve lying there pale against the white sheets.

It wasn't natural, this stillness emanating from Steve. From the very first instant he'd met the man Steve had been a force of life, constantly moving, seamlessly shifting between being the safest and the most dangerous place to be. He was, Danny thought, not unlike the ocean. Surrounding the islands; surrounding his life.

"Hey." he said. He winced at how rough his voice sounded against the quiet.

"I guess now would be the only moment I have to call you Uncle Steve so you won't remember it." He smiled crookedly. "I guess I owe you an apology and a lifetime's supply of beer, huh."

Danny reached out slowly taking one of Steve's hands. It seemed white wrappings were peeking out from under the hospital gown and covered much of Steve's visible skin. His face looked to be the only thing intact. The blonde sniffed, squeezing his partner's hand.

"I'm so sorry, Steve," he murmured, leaning heavily on the bed rail. "So, so sorry."

The fingers he held twitched, Steve's hand turning ever so slightly so that the tips of his fingers brushed against Danny's palm. Danny's breath caught in his throat and he looked up at Steve's face. His eyelids fluttered, he blinked slowly and focused on Danny. Danny thought he would have cried with relief but knew he'd never hear the end of it.

"Steve." he said.

"Hey, Danno," the dark haired man murmured in response. His voice was raspy and low, barely audible against the sound of the beeping machines. "We made it out?"

"Yeah," Danny breathed, relief fully sinking in. "Yeah, we made it out."

"Good. That's good." Steve murmured. "Beer sounds good." he added, managing a sly grin even around the pain medication.

Danny laughed softly and squeezed his hand. "Of course that's what you would hear that." He paused. "I'll make good."

Steve smiled and closed his eyes. "You always do."


	8. Driving Mr Danno

Because You're Always Right (Let's Go Back: Driving Mr. Danno)

Note: This is set back after the first episode, and before most of the crazy shenanigans we've put the boys through. :) So…if you're crazy like us, you may have noticed that in the first episode Danny is driving a silver Mustang. You may have also noticed that we haven't seen said Mustang since. While some have suggested that the cars they drive belong to the department, we have our own working theory. Enjoy!

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The office was silent save the rapid fire drumming of Danny's fingers against the top of his desk. His new desk, his new center of focus for cases. He'd never seen anything like the office the governor had constructed for their little task force. It was the best of facilities, had the latest technology, and was a veritable nerve center of intelligence. If he had to be stuck here indefinitely, he couldn't ask for a better place to be. However, it was now a place he was desperate to leave. It was well past working hours. Chin and Kono had offered to take him home, but he refused, knowing the inevitable Hurricane McGarrett would strike port. The man was just lucky it wasn't a night for him to be with Grace. He'd called sometime over lunch, telling Danny not to worry. He'd be five minutes. That had been six hours ago, and still no sign of one Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett, who much to Danny's irritation was not answering his cell phone either.

If Steve had told him before he had taken Danny's keys, the blond would have told him no. Granted, Steve hadn't been able to get a vehicle to the island yet - he had said something about being in the middle of making a deal on a Camaro, but he didn't have anything to show for that yet - but that didn't make the Mustang the car to borrow. It was one of the few things that he'd allowed himself to bring this pineapple infested hell-hole, and he'd be damned if the disaster that was Steve McGarrett did anything to hurt it.

He lifted his fingers, head tilted to the side as he heard a door open and shut. It had to be Steve. It just had to be Steve. Seconds ticked by and his patience was rewarded as the tall, dark-haired man slowly came around the corner into view. For a brief second, Danny wished he just hadn't. Steve had been recovering nicely from his run-in with Hesse on top of the Chinese freighter, but his arm was back in a sling and he looked like he was sporting some new bruises. He was also moving slowly -well, slow was relative when regarding Steve's stride- and God help him he thought Steve looked almost sheepish. Steve pushed open the door to his office and came inside to lean against it as it shut.

"Hey." he offered.

Danny stood, hands on his hips. "Steve. Steve, where is my car?"

"What? You're not even going to ask how I am?" the Commander asked, moving towards a chair and sinking stiffly into it.

"I don't care how you are," Danny growled out. "I want to hear what you did to my Mustang."

Steve grimaced at the shorter man's tone. "Well, I have good news and bad news. Which would you rather first?"

Danny felt all the blood leave his face. He was going to kill him. Kill him and probably go to prison, but he was going to kill him.

"Right. Good news first. Good news, I'm all right."

"What the hell kind of good news is that? Where is my car, Steve?"

Steve frowned, surprised to find himself put off by the fact Danny was showing no concern whatsoever for his well being. "It's good news to me," he pointed out. He watched Danny's face as his expression went from annoyed and irritated to truly fearful and angry.

"You're not putting me on, are you? You've actually gone and done something stupid behind the wheel of my vehicle which you did not even ask if you could drive before you'd already taken it! Do you realize that those are not cheap to fix? That I have to arrange alternate transportation while my car is in the shop? What is it with you taking unnecessary risk with other people and other people's belongings? Do you think before you act? Or...or before you inhale? When you're not too busy being the butterfly creating hurricanes around the other side of the world you are the hurricane, aren't you?"

Steve blinked. "Are you finished?"

"Yes." Danny conceded, taking a deep breath.

"You don't have to worry about paying to have it repaired."

"Because you are rightly going to pay for every last cent?" Danny demanded.

Steve shook his head slowly. "Noo...because there isn't enough left to repair."

Danny sank down to his chair again, mouth hanging open in shock. "You... That's not funny."

"It's not supposed to be," Steve murmured quietly. "If it helps, I am sorry."

"No, no that does not help, Steve. That does not help at all. You see, I use that car. I use it to take Gracie to school. I use it to pick her up some days. I use it so we can go on cases. I use it to get around this hell-hole of an island, and you had to destroy my one get away. The one luxury I let myself bring with me!" He finished in a huff, face flushed and angry.

Steve shifted in his chair uncomfortably and tried to hide the wince caused by every part of his protesting body. He hadn't planned on running into a suspect from an open case, and it wasn't like he'd wanted the man to run or get involved in a high speed chase. He just hadn't been used to driving the Mustang and when it didn't handle that hair-pin turn like he though it would...well...Steve sighed. For the first time in a while, he felt truly remorseful.

"I am really, really sorry, Danno. I'll make sure you get a car to use. You won't have to miss picking up Gracie or anything." he said.

Danny wanted, more than anything, to return with a snarky remark, but something in Steve's honest look and apologetic voice made him stop. He sniffed, frowning. "Yeah, you say that, and you'll end up with that pretty new Camaro you've been talking about," he grumbled with a sigh, only half sounding like he meant it.

Steve grinned, his whole face lighting up. "Cheer up, Danno. You never know what the insurance will give you."

Danny started to agree and then groaned. "You aren't covered to drive my car!" he nearly shouted.

* * *

In the weeks that followed, Steve made good on his promise that Danny would always have a way to get to Gracie. Surprisingly, he went out of his way to get the blond to his daughter for whatever time they had together, but his end-all plan for repairing the damage he'd done by utterly destroying Danny's Mustang was put off by case after case coming across their desk. It wasn't until after Kono's private graduation that he was able to put his plans out into the open.

"Hey, Danno?" he called, the blonde walking away from the police station with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"What?"

"Are you walking?"

"No," Danny answered after a moment, eyes somewhat thoughtful over the day's events and the reoccurring insanity that was Hurricane Steve McGarrett. "Thought I might call a cab. You don't have to tote me around."

"Are you just going home?" Steve asked.

Danny frowned and looked up at him. "Yeah. Why?" he asked suspiciously.

Steve smiled the smile that always told Danny he should be worried about whatever was coming next.

"I want to show you something. I'll buy you dinner." Steve cajoled.

Danny narrowed his eyes. It hadn't taken long for Steve to figure out that he had a weakness for good food (although their opinions of "good" varied considerably) and his Lieutenant Commander used it regularly to talk him into things. Danny was sure he meant to say no, but heard himself say, "Okay."

The day had been long and he really didn't have the energy to argue at that point. Silence filled the Camaro as Steve started the engine.

"You know the only place that's going to be open at this hour is going to be fast food, right?" Danny murmured at last, eyes lazily watching the passing street from the side seat.

"No, there's a little place a couple blocks from my house. It's open until midnight."

Steve pulled up and parked next to a pickup truck.

"Arnold's Deli?" Danny read the name of the place aloud. He turned to look at Steve, blue eyes wide and hopeful. "Shut up. It's an honest to goodness deli."

Steve nodded. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"It has pastrami."

Danny was out of the car faster than if they'd had someone start shooting at them. Steve grinned to himself and followed his partner inside, patting the pocket in his cargo shorts to make sure he still had what he needed.

He had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing at the blond detective. While he was plenty calm to anyone that might have been watching, Steve could see the slight bounce as he walked and the excitement radiating off of him.

"It's a sandwich, Danno," he reminded him.

"Someday, I'm taking you to Jersey. Then I'll introduce you to the best sandwich you've ever had," Danny promised after ordering.

They sat down with their meals, hot sandwiches steaming and Danny looking happier than he'd been in weeks. "I'll have to bring Gracie here." he said. "She'll forget what real food is like."

Steve rolled his eyes, but had to acknowledge it wasn't half bad. "I'm afraid the insurance company won't give an inch about not covering your car since I was driving." Steve said.

Danny's eyes darkened but he shrugged. "I could have told you that. I'll just have to start looking for something quick. Maybe a used Civic or something."

"A Civic would be a good car." Steve agreed.

Danny gave him the evil eye. "Says he who is running around in the brand new Camaro."

Steve chuckled. "You're not looking for another sports car?"

"Not on the salary that I get," Danny answered irritably. "Listen, do we really have to talk about this right now? I've done a damn fine job at not wringing your neck over that and I'd really like to just sit back and enjoy my sandwich. Is that too much to ask?"

"Damn fine job of it, huh?"

"That's what I said."

"If you do say so yourself."

"And I do."

"Do you want to know what I wanted to show you?" Steve asked.

Danny took a deliberate bite out of his sandwich and stared at his partner stonily. Steve took that as a yes and pointed out the window. Reluctantly, Danny turned to look as well.

"Why are you pointing at the Camaro?" he asked around his food.

"I'm not."

"What are you pointing at?"

"The truck."

"Why are you pointing at some person's truck? Don't you think that's rude?"

"It's not just some person's truck. It's my truck."

Danny put his sandwich down and his head swiveled back to look at Steve. "_What?"_

Steve tapped the table and a set of keys sat between them.

Danny blinked at him, unwilling to assume the meaning of his words.

Steve grinned widely, enjoying his partner's confused silence. "It's not a Mustang, but..."

"You're giving me your Camaro?"

"That's what I'm doing."

"And you bought a truck?"

"I did."

Danny eyed him and Steve could tell that his brain - working sluggishly on the downer that came after the adrenaline rush - was turning on the problem. "You make the same - or about the same - as I do. How the hell do you plan to pull that off?"

Steve shrugged, attempting to hide something behind it. "My dad left me some money."

"And so you're giving me your shiny new Camaro?"

Steve tilted his head. "It's bad enough when you repeat me, but now you're just repeating yourself."

"Steve," Danny said with half a laugh, "I can't accept this. I mean, dinner is one thing but you can't just give me a car."

"Yes I can."

Danny laughed again. "Steve this is not about you being stubborn. This is a huge deal."

"I know. You're my partner, and I didn't respect something of yours and I damaged that. It's only right that I take responsibility." he said evenly.

Danny was stunned. "Steve...I..."

"Besides, I already signed for the truck. No turning back now. Just nod, say 'Thanks, Steve' and finish your sandwich, Danno."

Danny opened and closed his mouth several times, no words ever really leaving it. No matter how irritating, how irrational and sometimes dangerous the man could be, somehow in that moment he seemed awful human. "Thanks, Steve," he said at last, not a hint of sarcasm touching his voice. As Danny finished his sandwich he thought that maybe, just maybe, this partnership wasn't going to be as bad as he originally thought.


	9. Highway to Hell

Because You're Always Right (Part 9: Highway to Hell)

Note: Again, thank you all so much for reviewing! (And so faithfully!) We promise much whump in the chapters ahead. 'Cause really, it's all about the whump. (And the snark!) : ) Enjoy!

* * *

"See. This is how you go after a bad guy," Danny said as he surveyed the blockade. "You don't go after a violent criminal with semi-automatics and two guys. No. That's what we call suicide, not that you care. You have back up. Hey, Steve, this is back up."

Steve shot his partner an irritated glance, dark blue eyes fixated on the empty road stretching out before them. "He should have been here by now."

"Relax. This is his only option," Danny answered with a shrug. "I mean, it's an eighteen wheeler on an island. There are only so many places he can go with it, and this is the last one. We'll catch him." A wide grin spread across his face. "And guess what. No one's bleeding at the end of this one. This is progress."

"Don't say that." Steve said, looking at him seriously.

"Why?"

"We're not at the end yet."

"Hey guys?" Kono called. She jogged up to them, hiding her smile. They looked like opposite sides of the same coin, fair and dark both standing amidst the flashing lights of the police cars with their arms crossed frowning at each other.

"Yeah, Kono?" Steve greeted.

"Boys up the road say the eighteen-wheeler has been spotted. He's headed fast in this direction, but we may have a problem. Only Dixon has been sighted in the cab. If his partner isn't hiding in the back of the cab, they may have split up." She said.

"We'll ask him when he gets here." Danny said, nodding down the road. "There's Bertha now."

The eighteen-wheeler was bearing down on them, horn blaring. It did not appear to be slowing down.

"It's not going to stop, is it?" Danny grumbled.

"I told you not to say anything," Steve pointed out.

"Yeah, after the fact."

One of the HPD officers called out to Dixon over a radio, hoping to reach him. There was something about having no way out, giving himself up and possibly cutting a deal. The horn blared again and the police scattered as Dixon's big rig slammed through the blockade, scattering police vehicles in his wake. Steve eyed Danny's Camaro and started for it, the expression on his face telling him everything that Danny needed to know.

"Oh no! No, no! We are not taking mine. You've already killed one car of mine; you don't get a try at that one!"

Without a word Steve switched directions, not having time to argue. He approached a somewhat terrified young officer. "This is your squad car?"

"Yes sir."

"Does it have a full tank of gas?" Steve asked.

"He's getting away!" Danny called.

"Yes, sir." The young man said.

"Keys." Steve held out his hand.

The young man opened and shut his mouth several times. "I'm responsible for it, Sir." He said.

"Currently you are responsible for every second between us and that truck. Give me your keys." Steve barked.

"You could say please, you know." Danny suggested.

Steve glared at him and the officer threw him a pleading glance. Danny shrugged.

"He says please. Now give us the keys and we'll make sure you get a replacement car." Danny said grimly.

"It's definitely not coming back?" the officer asked weakly as he gave Steve the keys.

"Probably not. Danny jinxed us." Steve said.

They got in the car and Steve gunned it, siren wailing and lights flashing.

"Wait. Why do you get to drive?" Danny asked as the landscape flashed by.

Steve gave him a half smirk as he pushed the car's limits, speeding along the road, even when it began winding. Danny grabbed for the handle up top and found none. Instead, he just grabbed at the ceiling, hoping for anything to keep himself from flying all around the cab.

"Not throwing your partner through a window would be a notch on the 'good things not to do' side of the list, just so you know," he managed through gritted teeth.

"Put your seatbelt on."

"I would, if I could keep from being thrown around long enough." He reached back and tugged the seatbelt over his shoulder and fastened it. When his eyes returned to the road they went wide.

"Steve! Watch out!"

A black car driving down the opposite side of the highway was swerving across the open median and into their land of traffic. The eighteen wheeler ahead blew its horn twice: a greeting. Gregory Dixon's partner, an island native called Sami Lukela was behind the wheel. Steve braced his hands on the wheel, counted softly under his breath and swerved at the last second to avoid being clipped by the other car. Danny let out a low whistle that would have been screams of distress by anyone else. He turned to watch the car screech to a halt then roar to life heading up behind them.

"They're gonna sandwich us in, Steve." He warned.

"No they're not."

Danny started to argue but thought better of it. It was best to let the other concentrate on his task at hand. He glanced back at the car, speeding steadily towards them, and then again towards the big rig. An uncomfortable feeling settled in the pit of his stomach when he saw signs indicating sharp turns.

"There's a bridge up ahead," Steve said, as if it explained his plan.

"Yeah, not seeing how that helps us."

"It's not the kind of bridge that a truck that big is going to go flying across. He'll have to slow down or risk going to the side."

"It would be too much for me to hope that you are going to slow down, too, wouldn't it?" Danny mumbled.

A cheerful ringtone filled the tense space and Danny groped for his cell phone. "Heya, pumpkin! Yes, Danno's at work right now." He shot a glance at Steve. "Yes, I will say hi to Uncle Steve for you. He says hi back."

Steve lifted one hand in a wave.

Danny lowered the phone. "Don't take your hand off the wheel." he growled.

"What's that Gracie? Yeah, yeah we're still on for that barbeque this weekend. Okay, I'll see you then. Danno loves you." He hung up the phone and switched his grip from the ceiling to the dashboard.

Steve glanced at him. "Barbeque, huh?"

"Just keep your eyes on the road, will ya?"

The bridge loomed ahead, long and warm looking in the sun, the light sparkling off the water far below.

"So when did Grace get her own cell?" Steve asked, noting the uncomfortable on his partner's face at the quickly approaching site.

"Step-Stan and Rachel thought she needed one," Danny grumbled. "She's eight. Eight, Steve. What does an eight year old need with a cell phone?"

"To call her dad with."

Danny grinned, not being able to stop himself. "Yeah. Rachel hates it."

Panic came back all at once as he saw the smoke from the tires and the sudden stop ahead. "He's stopped!"

The big rig jackknifed with the momentum sliding sideways and covering the lanes. Steve cursed and hit the breaks, the police car's tires also emitting smoke at the sudden halt. Lukela's car was right behind them ready for the move. Danno was on the radio, barking information out to Kono who assured them that back-up was on the way. It wouldn't be soon enough. The black car rear ended them, propelling them towards the stopped truck.

The two men braced themselves as they skidded across the bridge and towards the truck. Steve struggled with the wheel, hoping to regain control, swerving the car around. It did little good as they still collided with the truck, sending the car teetering dangerously one wheel over the edge, the back end wedged under the truck's cab. The airbags went off in the police car and it took a moment for Danny to realize they'd stopped moving. He breathed in shakily for half a second before taking in his surroundings. Deciding that they were not so far over that he couldn't risk shifting to check on the strangely quiet Steve, he unclicked his seatbelt to get to him.

Danny reached over and grabbed his shoulder, shaking gently. "Steve? Are you okay?"

Steve groaned and pressed the palm of his hand against his eye, and then touched his nose gingerly from where he was struck by the airbag. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. You okay?"

"Yeah." Danny said, glancing behind them. "We might be surrounded, though."

Steve half turned to look behind them, the cab of the truck filling the view of the back windshield. He glanced forward to see the water below. It always came down to the frying pan or the fire for them. A low rumble sounded behind them and adrenaline lanced through Steve's system. The big rig revved, the wheels turning against the pavement, pushing their police car further towards the edge and twisting it towards its side.

The shift sent the surprised Danny tumbling back, a yell escaping his lips and Steve reaching for him. The blond slipped just out of his reach and hit the door on his side of the car hard. Almost faster than Steve could comprehend, the door wrenched open and Danny dropped suddenly out of sight.

"Danny!" Steve screamed, ripping his own seatbelt off and scurrying for a better look. It wasn't a tremendous drop down, but Danny couldn't swim. He wasn't sure that he could get to the other man this time. Dark blue eyes peered down, expecting the worst, but instead saw his partner swinging dangerously, both hands latched as tightly as they could to the door opening.

"Danny!" Steve breathed. "Hang on, buddy."

"Steve?"

The fear in his partner's voice twisted in Steve's stomach as he carefully maneuvered himself to a position where he could grab Danny's arms without falling out of the car as well.

"I'm coming. Hang tight. I've got you." Steve said, wrapping his hands around Danny's wrists.

"Hurry." Danny said desperately.

"Get out of the car and put your hands where I can see them!" Lukela's voice echoed from behind the car.

Steve spared a glance and could see the man standing with a gun drawn, advancing slowly. "Isn't that our line?" he muttered.

"I said put your hands where I can see them, McGarrett!" Lukela said.

"In a minute, okay, his hands are busy right now." Danny snapped.

Steve arched an eyebrow and Danny risked looking up.

"What?" he demanded.

"Nothing." Steve said.

Danny flushed. "Shut up. Just shut up and get me out of midair, please."

"Stop what you're doing!" Lukela shouted, cocking his gun.

"Listen to me, I am not going to let him fall. So can it!" Steve shouted back.

He pulled back, lifting Danny further into the vehicle. For one heart-stopping second Steve's grip slipped and both men caught their breath. Steve carefully readjusted and with one final effort hauled his partner back into the body of the car. Danny braced himself against the passenger seat and Steve kept one arm around him to keep him from falling again. Danny leaned his head back, heart pounding.

"Thanks." he muttered.

"Now get the hell out of the car before I shoot you both," Lukela growled out and wrenched open the driver's door, aiming his gun to prove his point. "Out!"

Steve glanced at Danny who nodded in return and they each moved as they were told, slowly and very carefully as to not send the car tumbling the rest of the way. Back up should be just around the corner. Hopefully.

"You've wasted a lot of time with this little stunt." Steve said, glancing between Lukela and Dixon who had joined them.

Dixon shrugged. "You two are a pain in the ass. Not just for me. I'll be doing my world a favor by wasting the both of you."

"You talk big for a man without a gun. Is that why you've hired your little pet, here?" Danny asked, nodding towards Lukela. "That's real cute. Do you get treats for being a good boy?"

"Shut up!" Lukela growled, taking aim at the blonde.

"Or promise of a treat," Steve answered somewhat thoughtfully. "Lukela, have you even gotten anything for your trouble? You know what Dixon is notorious for on the Mainland, right? Taking the prize and running off with it, leaving his hired help to take the fall." The gun spun around on Steve and its owner snarled a dark curse.

"He's right, you know. We have information that Dixon has a private jet chartered at the airstrip. Just for one, though. Such a shame. And you made such a cute little couple," Danny returned.

"Enough. Both of you," Dixon hissed.

Slowly, Lukela turned the weapon on Dixon. "Is it true?" he asked coldly.

"You think couples counseling would help?" Danny asked.

Steve shook his head. "Too late, I think. At this point a clean break is best."

"No such thing." Danny mused.

Dixon was backing away from his former associate. "It isn't true. There's plenty of room on the plane, you'll still get you're share of the cut…"

Lukela fired as the first siren wail cry could be heard over the crest of the hill overlooking the bridge.

Steve and Danny were on him nearly as soon as his attention had been diverted. His hands were wrenched behind his back, gun pulled from them, and cuffs clasped on. Steve had him on the ground as the back up pulled up and Danny peered down at the irate lackey.

"You know, I'd read you your rights, but I'm not sure they apply with this one," he warned with a shrug towards his partner.

"Just to be safe." Steve suggested.

Dixon laid on the ground several feet away, groaning and holding his shoulder. "He shot me! He frickin' shot me!"

"Shut up!" Steve and Danny both shouted.

Behind them, the guardrail gave an ominous creak, and their borrowed police car screeched as it dragged along the edge and plunged into the calm Hawaiian waters. Steve and Danny stood, staring at hole in the guardrail where their car had been. Danny looked at Steve.

"You think the Governor will help us out with that?"

Steve shrugged. "One way to find out."

"This is why I said no to you driving the Camaro."

"You're the one who jinxed us." Steve said simply.

"You're the one who thought driving like a lunatic in pursuit of an eighteen wheeler was a good idea!" Danny exclaimed.

Chin and Kono pulled up near them and got out of the car. Neither Danny nor Steve seemed to notice their arrival. Chin looked at Kono.

"You think they're okay?"

She watched them for a second and grinned. "They seem to be just fine."


	10. Rockette Training

Because You're Always Right (Part Nine: Rockette Training)

Note: So…ah…we wouldn't be opposed if anyone wanted to start a petition to CBS to hire us, ha! Just kidding. (Mostly! :p) Ya'll are so generous with your reviews and we very greatly appreciate it! Saiko and I have decided, though, that Danny's knee needs to be better on the show. Everyone was deprived by Danny not getting to drive a motorbike. (...Hmm.) Anyhoo...Enjoy! :D

* * *

It was a slow, lazy afternoon and no new cases had come across the 5-0 desks for several days. It was astonishing, but they were almost out of paperwork to fill out as well. Steve had parked himself on the opposite side of Danny's desk, both men propped their feet on their respective sides. The fan swirled slowly above them, stirring the edges of the paperwork abandoned. Danny had his head tilted back and his eyes closed while Steve flipped through cold case files.

Movement in the hall caused him to look up and he grimaced at the sight that greeted him through the windows. He started humming the Darth Vader theme under his breath and Danny cracked one eye open.

"Keep it down, would you? You're making me nervous." he mumbled.

"You should be." Steve returned.

Bright blue eyes shifted to where Steve was watching and he frowned.

"What the hell?" he grumbled.

Rachel was waltzing in the front door, stiletto heels clicking against the hard flooring and she was walking almost too fast for the little girl - clutching tightly at her hand - to keep up without running.

As soon as Grace saw her father through the glass door, a grin spread across her face and she took off running towards him. Danny mirrored his daughter's smile. Danny stood and caught Grace as she launched herself into his arms.

"Hey, princess! What are you and mommy doing here? Why aren't you in your uniform?"

"We only had a half-day at school today." Grace said.

Rachel entered the office and stood with her arms crossed. She eyed them both warily. "McGarrett." she greeted flatly.

"Rachel." Steve said begrudgingly.

She turned her cool gaze on Danny. "Stan and I have a charity function. We'll be late so I need to leave her with you overnight."

"You could have called and let me know." Danny said through a fake smile.

Rachel shrugged. "You're always complaining that you don't get to see her enough. This is me letting you see her."

Danny bit his tongue. There was a child in the room. "Awe, thanks, Rach," he answered instead, voice still dripping with sarcasm.

"Don't call me that, Danny."

"Oh, there's so much more I could call you, Rachel," he responded with a shrug.

Her face flushed with anger. She bent down, kissed her daughter goodbye, and then spun around and left without another word to her ex. Danny resisted the urge to flip her off as she tapped her way out.

Grace slid out of Danny's arms as he grumbled and made kicking motions in Rachel's general direction. When she was no longer in sight, he turned to find Grace seated in Steve's lap. She looked up at the dark haired man.

"Is Dad thinking rude things?" she asked in a stage whisper.

Steve tried very hard not to smile as he glanced at Danny quickly.

He nodded solemnly. "Yes."

"Hey! Don't say that to her! She doesn't need to know what I'm thinking." Danny protested.

Steve shrugged before smiling at Grace. "I think you'll make a very fine detective." he said.

"Thanks!" she said brightly.

Danny looked like he might burst. "I just...what does she think we do, exactly?" he demanded.

He waved at Steve and Steve obligingly covered Grace's ears with his hands. She rolled her eyes.

"You can't just leave an eight year old at a police station with a task force! It's dangerous! What if we get a case? What am I going to do?" Danny asked.

"You could ask your boss for the rest of the day off." Steve suggested dryly.

Grace grabbed Steve's hands and pulled them away from her ears. "Can we go ice skating, Danno?" she asked excitedly. "They opened the rink at the mall!"

"Monkey, I..." Any excuse that he might have had melted when blue eyes met large brown ones and they blinked up at him, pleading. "Yeah. Sure, Gracie," he said instead, all initial resolve against the idea melting into a muddle and evaporating so there was no trace.

"Can Uncle Steve come with us?"

She then turned the look on Steve.

"Oh, Gracie I'd love to but..." Steve desperately looked away and to his partner for help, only to find the identical look on Danny's face. "You're kidding me, right? She gets this from you? And you get mad when I teach her stuff."

Danny's expression turned into a slow grin. "The look is helpful. You teach her how to duck and roll like some sort of ninja and she doesn't need to be getting any big ideas about playground justice or whatever."

Steve risked another look at the little girl and lost the fight. He sighed. "Fine. I'll watch."

Grace cheered and bounded towards the door.

"You'll end up on the rink," Danny swore.

"Absolutely not."

Grace's school had been one of the few to let early that day for a teacher in-service and the rink was shining and sleek with only a few people skating happily around it. The cold air hit them when they approached it and Grace immediately ran up to the desk and told them she needed three pairs - holding up three fingers for emphasis - of skates. One for her, one for her Daddy, and the third for Uncle Steve. The lady behind the desk gave the two men a smile and Danny really wasn't sure what it meant.

Steve frowned as she handed over the skates but couldn't bring himself to tell her to take his pair back. He hadn't been ice skating since he and Mary were kids. The clerk grinned at them again and he shook his head.

"We work together. Colleagues." He said as Grace began dragging Danny away to the seats to lace up their boots.

"Sure, hon. Whatever." She turned to the next customer and Steve shook his head again.

Grace proved to be much more adept at the thin laces and had hers on in no time. She sighed as she waited for her two grown ups to move faster. "Come on, you guys!"

"You think this is a good idea just getting over a bummed knee?" Steve asked as if the thought just struck him.

"You gonna go skating with her yourself?"

"No."

"Thought not." Danny finished lacing the skates up. "I have a brace on. It should be fine."

Steve snorted to say that he didn't believe him and tried to stand, finding himself seated again almost immediately, his balance completely off on the thin skates.

"Come on!" Grace called again, motioning for them to hurry up.

Danny held out a hand.

Steve looked at him. "What?"

"You can't sit there all day. I'll help you to the edge of the rink."

"I am not holding your hand to get to the rink."

Danny rolled his eyes. "You just can't accept help from anybody, can you?"

"I don't need help! If I needed help I would ask for it."

"You would gnaw your own arm off to get it out of a bear trap before you asked for help."

Steve paused. "That's disgusting."

"Are you going to move or not?" Danny demanded.

Steve slowly got to his feet and took a few awkward steps forward. Danny chuckled at the sight.

"Really? Because, you know, I've got a bummed knee and I'm moving better than you."

"Shut up."

The blond grinned widely.

"You two are slow. I already made three laps," Gracie said as she stomped her way up to them.

Her father gave her a knowing look. "Fibber. I only saw two. Right, Steve? Oh wait. You would have been too busy trying not to eat the floor to know."

"Two and a half. She doubled back." Steve grumbled, taking another couple of steps forward. He afforded Grace a quick wink and she grinned. She held out her hand.

"Here." She said expertly. "I'll help you."

Steve pointed at Danny and said, "Shut up," before taking the little girl's hand.

Danny watched his daughter walk slowly enough to allow for Steve's ungraceful movement, encouraging every step. His partner glanced every now and then at the upcoming rink and the ground, but mostly kept his eyes trained on the little girl, listening as though every word she said was the most important sound to ever hit his ears. He smiled softly. When they reached the entrance Grace looked back.

"Come on, Danno." she said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, come on, Danno." Steve echoed, grinning.

Danny grinned and shook his head, the sight far beyond what he would have expected when he'd first started working with Steve. He shuffled his way towards the ice, slow, but certainly more graceful than his partner. Eight years he'd been a father of a little girl that loved to ice skate. He'd had practice.

"Watch out for that first step," he started to call out as Grace and Steve made it over the lip and on top the ice, but the dark haired man turned and took a death grip on the side bar, eyes going wide as he struggled to stay upright. Danny nearly fell over laughing.

"Shut up, Danno!" Steve growled in response.

"Oh, I wish I had a camera," the other laughed as he stepped out.

Karma was feeling playful, and it had been a while since he'd taken Grace skating. The first step was slicker than even Danny remembered and with the brace encumbering his movement he pitched sideways, grabbing on to Steve to keep from hitting the ice and almost taking his partner down with him. Steve half turned to keep him upright, hanging onto the wall with his other arm for all he was worth. Eventually they righted themselves.

"This is why I wanted to watch." Steve grumbled.

Grace skated by them, laughing. Danny motioned to his daughter.

"And that is why you can't just watch. Grace! A little help here, ice monkey?" he called.

"You're funny!" she announced, her long hair swaying as she skated and laughed at the two officers.

Danny grinned and straightened, shaking his head as Grace skated away, more interested in the open rink than helping her father and Steve. Steve leaned against the railing, managing to swivel around so that he could at least watch from where he was at. Danny inched his way so that he was standing next to him, both latched tightly to the side bar behind them and eyes trained on the perfectly composed little girl skating as if she were a pro.

"You can do this." Steve said. "Go on."

Danny looked at him skeptically. "The whole brace thing might be more of a deterrent than I thought. Besides, I can't just leave you here clinging to the railing like a barnacle on a sinking ship."

"For that, I may let go and throttle you. Go." Steve insisted.

After giving him a long stare, Danny cautiously let go of the railing and after a half lap of hesitation, found a rhythm that worked for him. Grace joined him, thrilled that he had finally made it to actually skating. If he was going too slowly for her she never mentioned it, but grabbed onto his hand with her tiny one and swung it as they skated, grinning brightly.

After several laps Danny scooted back to his spot that he'd been in before, laughing as Steve stiffened.

"I'm not planning on knocking you over," the blond promised and his partner shot him a look that said he didn't entirely believe him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, knee just isn't letting me go very far. She's fine, as long as we watch."

As if on queue Grace turned around and waved at them both. Danny's face lit up and he waved back.

"You know, you never told me what happened," Steve said slowly, never taking his eyes off of the little girl.

"What happened with what?"

"Between you and Grace's mom."

"Probably because it's none of your business," Danny replied flippantly.

After a moment of silence between them with Grace calling for them to watch her try to spin, her falling, laughing, and trying again, Danny sighed.

"We were college sweet-hearts, got married, and not long after Gracie was born I got hurt on a case." He shrugged, a distant and almost sad expression playing out on his expressive features. "It just kinda puttered and went downhill. Not entirely sure Stan didn't come into the picture around that time too, but that's just looking back at it."

Steve's heart twisted for his friend. If he knew one thing about Danny it was that he did nothing half-heartedly and knew he would have poured his entire heart and soul into loving Rachel, just like he poured his heart and soul into loving little Grace.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

Steve's voice seemed to bring his partner back to the present.

"What for? She's a total bitch."

Even as the words left his mouth there didn't seem to be the force that was usually there and he gave a somewhat sad smile until he saw his little girl go flying, having taken a turn too quickly. A heart beat of a moment passed by and as soon as the sound of a little girl crying filled the area Danny was skating as fast as he could to her side.

"Grace!" Danny called frantically. He slid to a stop and knelt on the ice beside her. "Hey, it's okay. Danno's here. Did you hit your head? Let me check your head." he said, tickling her ribs. She gave a small giggle through her tears. "Oops, not your head. What about this?" he squeezed her knee eliciting another giggle mixed with a hiccup. He finally ran his hands over her head checking for bumps and sighed with relief when he found none. "That mean patch of ice jumped out and startled you, huh?" he asked, kissing her forehead. She nodded, still sniffling for effect.

Steve had miraculously made it over to them in wobbles and starts. "Is she okay?" he demanded. He didn't realize he didn't know how to stop until it was too late, and Danny only had time to get half a warning out before Steve collided with him, sending them both to the ice.

Grace was rolling on the ice, laughing hysterically. She watched Steve and Danny grumble and shove at each other, trying to sort out what limb could go where without danger of a ice skate winding up in a bad place and waited until they were almost situated to tackle hug them both, sending them sprawling back to the ice again.

"This has been the best half day off ever!" she announced with a bright laugh.

"Better than where Mommy and Step-Stan take you?" Danny asked, not really being able to stop himself.

"Yeah! A million times better!"

Danny grinned, hugging his daughter to him. It was the best half day off ever.

No question about that.


	11. This Is Halloween

Because You're Always Right (Part 11: This Is Halloween)

Note: Ah, the obligatory Halloween shot, in which we creeped out each other writing it. Lots of whump. Beware all ye who enter fic. Muahahahaha. Enjoy!

* * *

"Would you please stop twitching? You're making me nervous." Danny said.

Steve paused in his pacing to give his partner the evil eye. "We don't need to be waiting. We have the Governor's-"

"Seal of approval, blessing, go ahead, blah, blah, blah. I know. But you promised. You promised me a warrant, Steve, and all we have to do is wait a couple of minutes for a phone call. When the phone rings we can go. Because somehow you always manage to make yourself scarce after one of your bullet riddled busts and leave the rest of us schmucks with the paperwork."

"That isn't true." Steve said.

Kono came in and sat. "Oh, it's true." she said, sipping her coffee. She reached over and placed two small objects on the desk. "Here, I got you both these."

"What is it?"

"They're charms. To keep away the evil Halloween spirits." She said, hiding her smile behind her cup.

"I don't believe in any of that." Steve said.

"Shut up and take the charm." Danny said, pocketing his. "Thank you, Kono."

The phone rang. Danny waved to it. "Please, do the honors." he said.

Steve snatched it up. "Yeah. Yeah, we're ready. Thanks." He turned to his partner. "Let's go."

"Look at that. Difficult? No. That's how you get a warrant," Danny grumbled as he followed his partner started for the double glass doors in his usual quick stride.

"You boys sure you don't need back up?" Kono called.

"Should be fine," Danny assured her, trying to keep up.

The rookie police officer raced to call after them. "Hey! We're still going out to that haunted house tonight, right?"

Danny waved an affirmative before they exited the building. Steve shot him a look as they piled into Danny's Camaro.

"Haunted house?"

"We talked about this."

"No we didn't."

"Yes we did. Kono asked if we wanted to go to that weird haunted house, I said that I needed to check it out because Gracie wants to go, she said we should all go, you said that was fine."

"I don't remember that."

Danny rolled his eyes as the engine purred to life. "Well, the four of us are going to make sure that my child won't be traumatized for life. Does that count as worthy of your time, oh pompous one? Or is the common entertainment of the layman beneath your sensibilities?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged. "I just don't like Halloween. It's pointless."

"It doesn't have to have a point."

"Every other holiday has a point. This is just a marketing ploy to push senseless terror on people and give them an excuse to overload on crappy candy."

Danny shook his head. "First of all, you can't say anything about senselessly terrifying people. You do that to me every day. And what have you got against cheap candy?"

Steve looked at him. "It's not good for you."

"So?"

"So are you going to eat the whole bag of Hershey Kisses you have stashed in the bottom of your desk drawer?"

"What did I tell you about snooping in my desk?"

"I wasn't snooping. I was looking for a file."

"I don't keep my files in that drawer. You couldn't have been looking for it there."

"How would I ever know? You don't keep things any place in particular. I think you're avoiding the question, Danno."

"And you're switching the subject!"

"From?"

"The fact that we're going to the haunted house tonight and you're coming with us. End of story."

Steve let loose a deep sigh. "Yes dear," he grumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

It will be fun." Danny said, trying to sound convincing. "Just try not to hit anybody, okay? They're just teenagers workin' the thing."

Steve glared at him and parked the car. "I don't randomly hit people."

"No, you do it purposefully and with intent." Danny agreed.

"This is cozy."

The house before them was well kept and looked to be recently painted.

"You sure this is the right place?"

"That's what it says on the paperwork." Steve said.

"Well all right. Let's go get one Bobby Hughes for being an idiot."

"I'm pretty sure that's not on the warrant." Steve said.

Danny shot him a grin. "You know, I hate to say this, but from the info on this guy, it looks like he's not much of a fighter."

"You should hate to say that. Every time you do something bad happens."

"You hate Halloween, you won't have any fun with it, but then you go and say things like that."

"Only because it's been proved."

"Like I'm the one that brings the bad luck on this partnership," Danny grumbled.

"Are you calling me bad luck?" Steve chuckled as they approached the door.

"I'm calling you a walking death trap."

The paperwork on Hughes had stated that he was passively aggressive and had never been known to carry a weapon. He was a technical expert that was just shy of certifiable - or not shy at all, depending on who you asked - but had recently gone down a very dangerous slope and gotten involved with some very slimy people, including certain people that had once been connected to Victor Hesse. Danny and Steve ascended the wooden steps and the blonde detective was just about to knock on the large, ornate door when it swung eerily open, giving full view to a strange looking inside.

"Hughes?" Steve shouted.

Ominous laughter echoed from inside the house, but it sounded tinny like an old recording. The two exchanged glances.

"You've got to be kidding me." Steve grumbled.

"Maybe we should have put our costumes on." Danny said.

"You're already wearing a monkey suit." Steve pointed out.

Danny smacked him in the arm. "Are you going to go in after the suspect or not?"

"Halloween's a backwards holiday, right? Maybe you should go in first."

"Oh. Thanks. I get to go into the creepy guy's house first. Thanks, partner."

"You're welcome."

"That was sarcasm."

"I know. Get going."

Danny rolled his eyes and stepped in, his gun drawn. "Hughes! This HPD 5-0. We're coming in."

As soon as Steve stepped in behind him the door creaked and swung shut, echoing creepily down the long hallway.

"Seriously?" Danny grumbled, looking around.

The house was set up like a haunted house. It was perfect for the upcoming creep-fest but unnerving for the two detectives entering. A long hall stretched out before them, dimly lit with what looked like mirrors covering the doors and reflecting the lights. The boards squeaked under their feet and the laughter continued.

"Real funny, Hughes," Steve called, "but it's time to stop playing games. We don't want you; we want some information on the people you've been working with."

The laughter, seemingly automated, was replaced by skipping carnival music and interludes inviting patrons to come further into the 'funhouse'.

"I think he finally lost it," Danny murmured as they did the only thing they really could do: walk further inside.

A goblin sprang out of the wall to Danny's right. Both men jumped and aimed at it. Steve relaxed his stance.

"Hughes! You're pushing the limit of obstructing justice. Show yourself now and maybe we won't leave you in lock up overnight!"

Only the carnival music answered him. Danny poked the phony goblin in the nose with his gun and sighed. "Steve, this whole place could be rigged. Hughes might not even be here. We should leave, come back with Chin and Kono."

Steve shook his head. "No. He's here, we're here, and we're not leaving without him. Take that hall, I'll circle through here."

"Yeah, right." Danny grumbled.

Steve avoided fake webs and several more pop out goblins, witches, and that creature from one of those teen slasher flicks with the long white face. He found the kitchen empty.

* * *

Danny pushed the mirror that was half opened to reveal a long hallway that was even darker than the main one. He sighed and rolled his eyes. When he got a hold of Hughes he was going to kill him. This was absurd and going to take much longer than he'd originally expected. It was supposed to be a quick in, questioning, possibly taking the man in, and then out to that haunted house. Gracie wanted to go the next night.

"Maybe I should just bring her here when we book this son of a... bitch..." Danny had pushed through the other end into a room with no windows - or at least boarded windows - and had only a couple of lamps and more mirrors than the hall. These were set up all around the room, some on the walls and some stood up in the middle, reflecting one off of another so that he had to take a double look at each sight just to make sure it wasn't a reflection. He could have sworn he heard footsteps. At first he dismissed them as his own, but he could not continue to do so when he heard them after he stopped moving.

The mirror door slammed shut.

"Steve?" he called, raising his gun again.

* * *

Steve found the kitchen relatively undecorated. The counter was covered in sketches and schematics. He picked up a few of the pages and frowned. It looked like Hughes had converted part of the house. There were also weapons schematics. Steve jumped and raised his gun when he heard a door slam. He heard Danny call his name.

"Danny? Danny! Where are you? Danny!" he called.

Steve tried to push down the uneasy feeling that was rising in his gut. This whole house was putting him off. The cobwebs, the screeches, the unnerving faces. Taking one more look back at the papers he turned and decided it was best that he go to find his partner. Something in Hughes had obviously snapped since the last time anyone had dealt with him. He had become potentially dangerous and everything that they had had to go on was now obsolete.

The need to find Danny became more and more urgent as Steve returned to find the hall that he'd instructed the blonde to check out shut off by a solid mirror. He tugged at it and then ran his fingers along the side, looking for a latch. When he found nothing to open the trapdoor, he realized it must have been shut from the inside which meant his partner was alone with their suspect. Danny was alone with their suspect who may or may not have become very dangerous.

"Danny!" he bellowed. He smashed his gun into the mirror and the glass shattered, revealing the door behind.

* * *

"Hughes, whatever you're doing, it isn't going to help you escape, okay? Your best bet is to talk to us. We know you've worked with Hesse and whatever line he's spinning you, you're just a tool for him. He's not going to help you in the end. We can." Danny said, keeping his voice calm.

All the lights went out.

Faintly, he heard Steve shouting for him.

Directly behind him, whispered in his ear, he heard, "I don't want to escape, Detective."

"Whoa!" Danny exclaimed spinning and stumbling away from the eerie voice. He blinked rapidly against the darkness. "Hughes?"

The laughter from before echoed around the room and Danny couldn't tell where it was coming from. He tried to steady his breathing. One thing was definitely sure after all of this: the haunted house idea was out. He didn't care how much Gracie argued, but she'd thank him in the end. He didn't know what people saw in these. The footsteps started up again, sounding almost like Hughes was circling the parameter of the small room. A single lamp jumped to life just in time for Danny to turn and face one of the many mirrors, letting out another shout at his own reflection.

"Damn it, Hughes," he growled, pulling his gun up to a ready position just in time for the light to flicker off once more.

Danny tensed as the footsteps multiplied making it sound like there were a hundred people with him in the room walking at all speeds. He swung from left to right, sweat beading on his forehead. The darkness was oppressive. It felt like fingers ghosted over his arm and he lashed out but came into contact with only air.

"Danny?"

He jumped again, but relaxed when he recognized Steve's voice. He lowered his gun. "Thank God." He mumbled.

The lantern flicked on. Hughes stood in front of him, not his partner. Danny cursed, lifting his gun but it was too late. Hughes hit him which sent the gun spiraling away. The lantern went out and the gun was lost to him. The cool voice curled into his ear again.

"Feeling vulnerable, are we, Detective?"

"Listen, Hughes, I just want to talk to you," Danny tried again, hoping that he sounded more sure than he did to his own ears.

"Talk, talk, talk," the voice echoed in a laughing, sing-song sort of manner. "All we want to do is talk."

"Exactly."

Danny suddenly stumbled backwards into one of the mirrors, a sharp shove having sent him off balance. The light flickered again and he found himself nose to nose with Hughes, the other man's dark eyes wide and unnerving.

"Did you know that a man came to me, Detective? A dead man." Blue eyes flickered to Hughes' hand and he hoped that he was just holding an elaborate prop.

"Yeah? Did the dead man talk to you?" Danny asked, backing away slowly.

Hughes' head tilted sharply. "Why, Detective, he's talking now."

Hughes slashed forward as the light went out again. Danny yelped and feinted left, feeling the steel blade catch the fabric of his sleeve. He rolled, only feeling the sting of the cut seconds later. There had to be a way out of this maze of mirrors and away from this madman.

"Don't by shy, Detective." Hughes voice hissed and echoed through the room.

Danny shivered. Where the hell was Steve? His own breathing was the only sound in the room for several long seconds and Danny slowly got to his feet, groping around for something solid. Finally his hands touched something smooth and cool. Another mirror. Great. Thunder crashed outside the house and Danny jumped at it and wondered briefly how long he and Steve had actually been in there. The storm hadn't been due in for a while when they'd left the office. A power surge threw the lights on when Hughes wasn't expecting it and he looked startled for half a second. A dark smile crossed Hughes' thin lips and they flickered off again, then on, and continued in this manner, the storm playing havoc on the old wiring. Each time the madman was in a different place, moving silently across the wooden floors in a manner that Danny couldn't quite figure out. He tried to move behind the current mirror before realizing that it was the wall.

A final surge lit up the entire room and Hughes was on him before he knew it. He tried to throw himself out of the blade's path again, but the steel bit into his side and he found himself tumbling to the ground, pain following.

He barely had time to reach up and catch Hughes's arm as he bore down on him with the knife for a second time. Hughes was laughing and Danny was certain he was going to die. His side throbbed and his heart pounded in his ears. He rolled and managed to pin Hughes to the floor, but the man kicked out and hit Danny's would. Danny gasped and fell back. Hughes lunged, the steel biting for a second time. In one surreal second, Danny could almost feel the cool of the metal piercing warm layers of skin, sinking into the lifeblood below.

He dropped to his knees.

"Such a pretty little present for your partner," Hughes purred, sending shivers down the blonde's back.

Steve had been struggling with the door - much sturdier than it looked - for a while before it finely gave way. It had seemed like an eternity since he'd started on it, and when it tugged open he was down the hall in a flash, noting light underneath the door at the end.

"Hughes!" he bellowed out, kicking open the door at the end.

The mirror on the other side crashed, gaining the lunatic's attention from where he was looming over the barely-conscious Danny who was now lying on his back on the wooden floor, blood soaking his dress shirt.

Hughes turned to Steve, smiling. Blood dripped off the end of the knife he held loosely. "Happy Halloween, Commander."

Steve's vision blurred momentarily and when he refocused he was smashing Hughes into one of the mirrors. The knife clattered on the floor and Steve snarled as Hughes's face made contact with the glass, cracking it. Hughes shrieked once before losing consciousness. Steve dropped him to the floor.

He turned to find Danny trying to push himself to one elbow, the sound of his desperate gasps almost drowning out the carnival tune. Steve quickly knelt next to him and wrapped an arm around him to ease him back down.

"Danny, Danny, don't move, okay? You've got to relax and stay still." Steve said.

He wanted to gag at the sight of the blood his partner was losing.

"I swear, if that damn music isn't going to shut off I'm going to lose my mind," the blonde croaked out in between ragged breaths.

Steve chuckled slightly, only slightly relieved that Danny was with it enough to crack jokes. He pulled the injured detective up against him; holding onto him tightly and feeling Danny latch onto his arm.

"Hey Steve?"

"Yeah?" the former Seal asked, digging desperately in his pocket for his cell.

Help would get there. Danny was going to be fine.

"I don't think that a haunted house is a good idea for Gracie."

Steve's mouth curled into a half smile. "You're probably right. You'll have to think of somewhere else we can take her though. You're going to need a bargaining chip."

He heard Kono's voice on the other end of the line and he told her to send an ambulance and a car to pick up Hughes right now. He set the phone down and carefully shifted so he could cradle Danny against him and still have a hand to put pressure on the wound.

"Next time no splitting up." Steve announced.

"You're the one that wanted to split up," Danny argued drowsily.

Steve's only response was a snort. "Did he say anything?"

"Not that made sense." The blonde paused, blinking and trying to keep his eyes open. "Something about talking to a dead man. I thought... thought he might have meant Hesse, but he said he was talking to him then. Could have just been crazy."

Danny struggled, fingers curling into Steve's shirt with agitation. The pain was making his head fuzzy and he was having trouble keeping up with his own train of thought. "Hesse," Danny whispered. "Steve he could be..." he gasped in pain and Steve pulled him closer.

"Shut up, just shut up, Danno. Don't worry about it right now." he mumbled into his partner's ear.

"But it's Hesse," Danny protested weakly.

"You matter more!" Steve snapped. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. "You matter more." he said again, simply.

"More than Hesse?" Danny mumbled awe evident in his weakened voice.

"More than Hesse," Steve confirmed.

The corners of Danny's mouth perked upwards and he seemed to relax against his partner. He wasn't entirely unconscious, but certainly quiet enough to cause Steve to check several times.

"Told me to shut up," Danny grumbled as he was stirred for the last time.

The dark haired man started to give a snarky answer when he heard the sound of sirens outside and he relaxed for the first time since the kitchen.

"We're going to be okay, partner," he promised quietly and he felt Danny nod sleepily against his arm.

Steve looked up and caught sight of their reflection in the shattered glass, a hundred broken images of him and Danny all splashed with red. He shut his eyes and focused on the sound of Danny's breathing and the feel of Danny's heartbeat close to his own. Hesse had wreaked enough havoc and hurt enough people Steve cared about. It was going to end. But right now his concern was getting him and Danny out of this house.

"We're going to be okay." he repeated softly. Steve would make sure of it.


	12. Surfin' USA

Because You're Always Right (Part 12: Surfin' U.S.A.)

Note: Saiko officially hates me because I occasionally use song titles as chapter titles. And she may or may not be slightly inebriated at this exact moment. HA. I have not yet had enough. :p We do not actually have a follow up to the Haunted House one shot…yeah. Hate us later. We have lots of plans for the boys, though, fear not, including some fluff and some whump. Thank you all so much for continuing to read our chapters! Enjoy!

"You're all conspiring against me," Danny said as his bright blue eyes went back and forth between his three other team members and then down to his daughter who had a tight grip on Steve and Kono's hands respectively.

"But it'll be fun, Danno!" Grace argued, making sure to bat her eyes in the cutest puppy-dog expression that Kono had ever seen.

"Yeah," Steve agreed with a slight grin tugging at his lips. He was trying - really, honest - to keep it off his face. "Fun, Danno."

"Shut up!"

"I don't see what the problem is, brah," Chin said as he leaned back against a table.

Danny had been trying to enjoy his afternoon with his daughter when they'd been ambushed by the other members of the 5-0 division. A snow cone had been her request. That was simple enough. Simple until Kono, Chin Ho, and Steve had appeared, half encircling Danny and informing the blond that Kono was going to teach his daughter how to surf.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Danny asked Grace.

She grinned and tilted her head. "Well...we're already out here at the beach, Danno, and Kono has the stuff I'll need, and all the other kids know how to surf."

"All the other kids, huh?"

"Yes!"

"Every last one of the kids you know surfs?"

She nodded emphatically. Danny pointed at each of his teammates in turn.

"The first sign of a dorsal fin and not only am I taking her out of the water I am kidnapping her and moving her to Iowa where there is no water and the only thing you could fall off of is the front porch. Do I make myself clear?"

Grace's cheering drowned out the last part of his command and she dragged Kono towards the changing rooms. Chin smiled.

"We'd best get the boards from the car."

Steve clapped Danny on the shoulder. "See, you're broadening your daughter's horizons. The next step is pineapple on pizza."

"Over my cold, dead body." Danny grumbled. "Or better yet. Yours."

Steve shook his head with a grin finally playing out across his lips as he made his way to his truck. He began pulling four average sized surf boards from it as well as a child-sized one.

Danny's eyes went wide. "Oh no. No, no, no. And furthermore: no."

"What?" his partner returned innocently.

"You know I can't swim," Danny hissed lowly.

"That's why you wear a life jacket," Steve answered in a mock-whisper.

"I don't have swim shorts."

"Yes you do. Back seat. In the bag."

"I hate you so much."

Steve grinned at him. "No you don't."

"If I didn't before, I really do now."

"Hey, I brought the life jacket and not the water wings. I think that earns me some points."

"No, no it doesn't. You're going to harass me into the water so I don't look bad in front of my kid. No points for you. Negative points for you, Steve McGarrett."

"Don't worry, Danno. I'll teach you." Steve said easily, shoving his partner towards the sand. He pointed towards where they were heading, Grace and Kono having emerged from the changing room. "We made sure Grace had a one piece."

"Well, that's something."

Danny made each of them promise that his daughter wouldn't go more than ankle deep in the water until he emerged from the bathrooms in the (stupid) swimming trunks that Steve had bought him for the (insane) day of surfing that his (former) friends had planned. He grumbled as he walked out to see Grace knee-deep in the water, but his expression softened when he saw the huge grin on her face.

"Daddy! Look! Kono said I can keep it!" she announced, showing off her pink surfing board.

"Oh, great." Danny said with forced enthusiasm. "That means we'll be doing this a lot, huh?"

"We can do it every weekend!" Grace agreed.

Kono called her back towards the water. "Grace! Let's get started, girlfriend!"

Grace dashed towards the water with all the confidence and enthusiasm of youth.

Chin and Steve rounded on Danny.

"Your turn, Williams. Time to make the water your friend." Chin said.

"I don't want the water to be my friend. The friends I've got are dangerous enough, thank you."

The two taller men moved forward, taking a strong hold on either of Danny's shoulders.

"What about the life vest?" he asked, eyes darting desperately back to it.

"Can you not swim at all?" Chin asked in utter disbelief.

"Yeah, we found that out a while back," Steve answered solemnly.

"When you threw me off a boat!"

"I did not throw you off a boat, Danny. Stop being dramatic."

"No, you just threw the driver off, which turned the boat, which threw me off."

"Exactly. The momentum threw you. Not me."

"Glad we have that clear," the blond grumbled. He didn't see the nod between his two partners before it was too late and he was all but tossed onto a surfboard and shoved out into the water where he could no longer touch the bottom. Pure panic lit his face.

"Steve!"

A warm hand curled around his shoulder. "Easy, Danny. I'm right here." Steve was chest deep in the water next to him. "Just move your arms, let the board balance you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you, and neither is Chin."

Danny would have smacked him if he hadn't been afraid of overturning the board.

"Freaking Hawaii. Freaking pineapple on pizzas, water loving, baseball team-less, crazy-ass Hawaii where no one's heard of a suit and tie and where I'm laying on a tiny, tiny board separating me from an ocean full of sharks." He cast an evil eye towards his partner. "That includes you."

Steve only grinned. "We'll get you sitting on that board in no time."

Danny continued to hug the board, not even wanting to think of moving to an upright position. The end of a wave rolled in and he clung tighter. He could handle guns, explosions, and all kinds of chaos, but this... He finally opened his eyes, sputtering out some of the salty water that had washed into his mouth.

"Daddy, look!" he heard Grace call and managed to shift his head to try and look at her. His daughter was squatted down on the little pink board, looking very proud of herself. "Daddy! Sit up! It's easy!"

"You're doing great, sweetheart." Danny called, hoping his voice sounded stronger to her than it did to his own ears. He turned to Steve. "I can't do this."

Steve reached forward and took one of Danny's hands in his own and placed his other hand on his partner's back. "You can. Let go of the board, Danny."

Danny grit his teeth, and with Grace in mind loosened his fingers. He eased himself up, squeezing Steve's hand so tightly he was surprised he didn't hear the bones crack.

When he was finally upright, Steve murmured, "Relax. You're trying too hard."

"Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle black?" Danny grumbled. He shut his eyes and tried to think about anything other than being in water deep enough to flail and drown in. Skyscrapers, taxis, hot dog stands, Yankee stadium, Grace taking her first steps, Grace calling him Danno for the first time, shopping in New York City, the occasional musical (not that he would admit that to anyone, ever, even on threat of death), the Camaro. Danny wondered if he was relaxed yet, then remembered he was on a board in the ocean. Another wave hit and the board rocked violently, causing the man on top of it to flail.

"You're going to knock yourself off," Steve murmured.

Once Danny realized the wave had moved past them and he'd stayed mostly upright, he looked around. Chin had moved over towards Kono and Grace, giving Steve a chance to try to calm the blond detective down. Gracie was giggling in delight as she balanced on the board, looking very much like a pro in the making.

"Kono won't take her any deeper than that, right?" he asked suddenly, realizing that the little girl was as far into the water as he and Steve were.

"Not until she's ready," Steve promised. "What about you? You think I can let go so I can grab my board?"

Danny let go of a shaky breath as another wave took him up and then back down. "Yeah," he managed, forcing himself to let go of his partner.

Steve pulled himself onto his board and sat.

"There. Not so bad is it, brah?" Steve asked, mischievous grin on his face.

"No. No, do not call me that. I will, on occasion permit the Danno mainly because I cannot stop you, but do not start speaking in surfer lingo to me or I will have to shoot you."

Steve actually laughed. "I'm going to make an islander of you yet, Danno."

"So this is it? Sitting on the board?" Danny asked hesitantly.

"This is a start. You're in the water and you're breathing. This is improvement." Steve said, looking perfectly at home.

"So what's the next step?" Danny forced himself to ask.

Grace was now standing on her board as a wave rushed past, knocking her off. He about had a panic attack until her head popped up out of the water and he could hear her giggling and swimming around. When had she learned to be such a strong little swimmer?

"Focus," Steve urged. "Kono won't let anything happen to Grace." He watched his partner relax momentarily and he motioned for him to follow as he started paddling out further into the water.

Danny's eyes widened. "I'm good here."

"No you're not. If you fall off you could hurt yourself."

"Why would I fall off?"

"Did you see Grace kneeling on the board a few minutes ago?" He waited until Danny nodded slowly. "That's next."

Danny swallowed thickly and shook his head. "Steve,"

Calm, dark blue eyes met his gaze, asking the unspoken question that seemed to always hang between them. Deciding, trusting, Danny began to paddle forward. Steve's face lit up and Danny decided his partner was a child. A large, destructive child who rushed fearless into anything and everything. He made a mental note not to let Steve teach Grace anything dangerous. Or let him teach her anything at all.

The waves were a little bigger where they stopped, but not nearly as big as the ones that Danny had seen Kono take. He glanced at Steve who was shifting his weight and sat squatted down on his board.

"You see, you have to get up like this, and catch the wave, but we're just going to go this far."

The instruction seemed easy enough, but Danny didn't move. Steve frowned, waiting.

"Well?"

Well what?"

"You've got to get up onto the board."

"You're funny."

"C'mon, Danny. You're daughter got it on her first try."

"My daughter is young and spry. I am an old dog with a bad knee and a fear of dying thousands of miles from my home." Danny said.

Steve shook his head. "You are not going to die. You're just going to stand on a board."

"If I die, promise me you'll bury me on the mainland. Please promise me you won't cremate me and scatter me in the ocean for my particles to be consumed by aquatic creatures and divided for all time."

Steve's lips twitched. "I promise. Up and at 'em, Danno."

Danny took a deep breath, steadying himself as the wave rolled by. All he had to do was kneel on the board. That was it. Slowly he pulled one leg out of the water, shifting his weight. He'd seen the regular surfers go straight from lying on the board to their feet to catch a wave. He didn't know how they ever did it the first time. Another wave passed by and he pulled the other leg out and found himself sitting mostly on his knees. He cringed at the dull pain from his right one and shifted his weight again so that he'd be kneeling on his left. Just as he'd finished shifting and was about sure that he could kneel on the thing - this wasn't really as hard as it looked - the next wave came by and he felt the board jerk out from under him.

With anyone else, Steve might have given them a second to orient and surface by themselves. It was a way of learning. Once a surfer was out on their own, it was up to them to find the surface and reclaim their board. But Danny wasn't anybody else and Steve was off his board in a split second and in the water after his partner. It was the panicking that got him every time. Danny struggled against the water which only pushed him further away from the surface and the board.

The former Seal squinted against the salty water, seeing the blond reacting just as he had expected. His fingertips touched Danny and the other looked up, panic written all over him. Steve grabbed his arm and tugged him upward, hoping that the other man would have presence enough of mind to keep from thrashing and take them both down. They broke surface quickly and Danny began moving again, hands going in every direction with no real purpose.

"Hang on!" Steve growled out, reaching for one of the boards that had drifted a few feet away. Thankfully a wave washed them closer. Danny sputtered against the mouthful of water and turned to take a death grip on his board.

"I hate the ocean," he coughed out, knuckles going white as he clung to the only thing now keeping him afloat as Steve swam the extra few feet to his own board.

"That wasn't bad for your first try." Steve said, swimming back towards him.

"Shut up." Danny rasped.

Steve reached over and patted his back. "A pool, maybe. We'll start with swimming lessons, first, then." Steve mused.

"What makes you think I'm going to do this again?" Danny asked indignantly.

Steve nodded across the water. "Because your daughter is surfing."

Danny looked over to see Grace standing on the board, screaming a cheer of success as she road the wave down and didn't topple until the end. She popped back up out of the water, giving another loud cheer before climbing back onto it.

"Danno! Did you see?" she called, beaming with delight.

"Yeah, I saw," he answered, an honest smile on his face. "You were great."

When she'd returned to Kono, ready to hear how to stay up in the end, Danny turned back to his partner with a slight groan. "Right. Swimming lessons."


	13. Road Less Traveled

Because You're Always Right (Part 13: Road Less Traveled)

Note: Hi! I'm so, so sorry there hasn't been an update in a bit. Totally my fault. *shuffles feet sheepishly* We bring you some whump and some fluff to make up for it. : ) Saiko and I watch the show together (well…we both watch it and fangirl over IM through it) and have mercy the bromance is so epic! So much love. Enjoy!

* * *

He'd been going on about it for nearing half an hour. Every time that Steve tried to open his mouth, Danny cut him off, snapping that he wasn't done. Steve sat back in his seat, watching his blond partner's irritated pacing slow as a slight limp was incorporated in it and he could tell that he was keeping weight off of his newly-healed knee. It hadn't been that big of a deal really. He wasn't going to kill the guy, no matter what Danny said about it. He hadn't even hung him off the roof. It had just been a few threats, but apparently it was just one of those days for the shorter detective, and it was turning into one of those days for the former Seal. Finally, as Danny ranted on and on he just stood and started for the door.

"Excuse me, where are you going?" Danny demanded.

"Out. Away from here before I really do shoot you. Or myself."

"This is your problem."

"Oh? This? Tell me what 'this' is, exactly, Doctor Williams. What is my problem exactly?"

Danny got close enough to poke Steve in the chest. "You don't respect anybody. You don't respect the suspects, who do have certain unalienable rights by the way, you don't respect your own safety and you don't respect mine."

"My safety is my own business. Don't poke me."

Danny turned a shade of red that made Steve think of a passion fruit.

"You…you…" he spluttered for a moment before shoving Steve with his palm instead of his finger. "You expect me to be your partner and watch your back and not be concerned when you make stupid decisions that endanger you and everyone around you? What do you want from me? Maybe I don't want to be your partner if that's how you're going to be."

"No one's forcing you," Steve shot back, fighting to keep his fists at his sides.

"I didn't get much of a choice, if you remember!" Danny yelled, ignoring the looks from not only the other two officers in their office as well as a few looks from outside the door.

"Then clean out your desk and go back to your old work."

And that was it.

Steve spun and blew through the door without another word. The sound of his truck roaring to life and him gunning the engine into action could be heard echoing throughout from outside. Danny was left staring at the glass door, half shocked that he'd been left in such a way.

"Son of a bitch," he growled out. "I hate him so much."

"Danny...?" Kono murmured from her desk, almost sounding hesitant.

The blond didn't respond as he walked over to his desk, threw open the drawers and started tossing stuff into a trashcan in lieu of a box.

"Danny... He didn't mean it," Kono tried again.

She was sure that she had never seen a look quite like she received and hoped that she never would again. Expressive blue eyes held hurt and anger, fear and anguish, and regret. He waved her off finally, sniffing back something that might have been part of that hurt as he continued to shovel his supplies into the trashcan.

Chin came and leaned against the door frame. He nodded at Kono who gathered up some papers and vanished down the hall.

"Danny, stop." he said calmly.

Danny glared at him, dropping another stack of files into the can. He barely resisted the urge to just light the whole stack on fire. "In case you missed it, Chin, I've been fired. And quite frankly I don't want to be here when Hurricane McGarrett comes back for another run through because guess what? Now I don't have to ever see his ugly mug again."

Chin watched him carefully for a long moment. When Danny's movements slowed he asked, "Is that what you want?"

"No that's not what I want." Danny snapped. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Chin."

Chin took a deep breath. "Let me tell you something. Steve's father used to tell me that he worried about his son sometimes. Steve doesn't trust, he said. He trusts you, Danny. You've just got to give him time."

"And I'm supposed to do what in the meantime?" Danny asked, plopping heavily into his office chair. "See how many times he can get us almost killed? That's a lot of trust to ask for."

Chin let out a breath of air in the form of a sigh and leaned against the blond's desk. "Just... have a little patience," the Hawaiian man urged. "It'll be worth it in the end."

Danny groaned and put his hands to his eyes, digging his palms into them. Chin was right, he knew, but facing Steve when he finally cooled off and came back was not what he was looking forward to.

* * *

Music poured loudly out of the blue pickup truck as Steve McGarrett sped along at speeds far above the legal allowance. It wasn't like anyone was going to pull him over. After the scene that he and Danny had just made, it wasn't like they'd dare. He honestly hadn't meant to tell Danny to go back to his old job. He'd thought Danny had grown to like working with 5-0 at least just a little; to like working with him maybe just a little. He was used to giving orders and having them followed, not to having someone question everything he did, down to the last minute details. He was used to having subordinates, not to having someone snark back at him and push with equal measure. He was used to a certain degree of distance, not equity. Not a partnership. Not a friendship. But now he was getting used to Danny and having him push and prod and question and being the prideful, arrogant son-of-a-bitch that he was (thank you, Danny) he'd just fired the only man in Hawaii who'd put up with him.

Steve cursed and slammed his hand against the steering wheel just as a black SUV slammed into the side of his truck. Every muscle in his body tightened at the horrific sound of screeching and shrieking metal, his head thrown against the headrest by the exploding airbag. For a split second he thought that was the worst, but the world titled on its axis and the wheels on the driver's side left the pavement marking the first roll. He grabbed blindly for his cell phone but couldn't locate it. More glass broke as the truck rolled again. He felt pain, but he couldn't tell for sure where it was coming from, unless it was everywhere.

Part of his mind tried to remember what the road looked liked where he'd been hit and if there had been a slope or not. He wasn't even sure how far he'd gotten if he were totally honest with himself, but the way the truck seemed to continue to skid and roll there must have been a hill. It was the only logical explanation. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the truck came to rest upside down, leaving Steve dangling in his seatbelt and only barely conscious. His fingers twitched and he blinked his eyes open, seeing only white for a moment. His mind, usually so quick and sharp, finally worked out that he was staring into the airbag and he thought it might have been a good idea to turn his face so that he wouldn't suffocate. It had seemed like a good idea, until his head screamed in protest. Now the white that he saw was from the pain and he felt himself fading in and out, the pain the only thing keeping him awake when he jerked back each time. Steve froze, certain he was hallucinating voices until they moved closer to the truck

"... dead...?"

"Got to be... can't survive that..."

The voices sounded familiar, but Steve couldn't place them. His instincts screamed at him that it was best to stay quiet. Let them leave and then... then what? Danny. He had to get a hold of Danny.

"Shame to waste the SUV that way." the first voice said regretfully.

The second voice scoffed. "Way we're getting paid you can buy a lot of them. Look, you can see 'im there."

A scattering of rocks hitting the side of the car caused Steve to hold his breath. Blood slid down his face and his ribs screamed in protest at his awkward position. He heard a quiet clicking sound. The voices were retreating.

"...send it to...Boss."

Laughter was the last thing he heard. He inhaled and gasped in pain, tears burning the back of his eyes. His fingers fumbled around the upside down cab, desperate to come in contact with his phone.

"Danno." he gasped.

Numbing fingers finally caught hold of it and he tried to focus his eyes enough to hit the first number on speed dial.

* * *

Danny Williams was now sulking. The anger had washed away to leave only the hurt at everything - not entirely erased even after Chin's explanation of the insanity that was his partner - but he didn't feel quiet as upset as he had earlier. He'd stopped piling things into the garbage can and was currently sitting alone in 5-0's office space, Chin and Kono having given him the space they knew he needed. From the corner of his desk, his phone started to sing Steve's ringtone. He glared at it for half a moment before deciding that maybe, just maybe, Steve was apologizing. He certainly deserved it. With that in mind, he opened it.

"You better have a damn good apology set up," he growled out as a greeting.

"Danno,"

The soft plea hit his ears, fear mixed with pain and desperation and Danny's heart skipped a beat. He stood, grip tightening on his phone. "Steve? What's wrong?"

"Truck...I...hit...rolled the truck."

"Jesus. Five seconds, Steve, I can't leave you for five seconds. It's going to be okay. Tell me where you are? Have you called 911? This does not count as an apology, by the way."

The uptake in the hitch of Steve's breathing sounded like a smirk, Danny thought.

"Noted. Don't know where I am. Guy hit me. It's dark." Steve said.

His voice was fading and fear knotted in Danny's chest. He moved quickly down the hall to the tech room. He would need to get a fix on Steve's GPS location.

"Just hang in there, Steve. I'll have someone there ASAP."

"You'll come?" Steve managed, voice sounding distant in the blond's ears.

"Yeah. Of course." Danny had always complained about not being the best at working the technology, but he found his fingers moving over the keys as if he could do it in his sleep. There. Just out of town.

"Hang on. I'll be there in just a couple minutes, buddy," he promised, already half way out the door. He paused at the strange look from Chin as he passed him the hallway and he covered the phone for half a moment. "Get an ambulance to the location on the screen in there."

"What's going on?"

"Steve rolled his truck. Just do it." He turned his attention back to the phone as he ran out the door. "You still with me, partner?"

Steve didn't say anything and fear rooted Danny to the spot, hand frozen on the door of the Camaro. "Steve? Steve!"

He heard a ragged breath and a soft curse. A click was followed by a loud thud and a cry that twisted all of Danny's insides.

"Steve? Talk to me!"

Steve hadn't been able to remain hanging by the seatbelt, the straps cutting into his torso and making it even harder to breathe. He knew it was a risk, but he had to take it. He'd found the button for the belt and pushed it. It was barely a drop to the truck ceiling, but it was enough to his damaged body to make him cry out in pain at the new awkward position he found himself in. He could taste blood in his mouth and he blinked to clear the spots from his vision.

"Don't quit." he managed curling his arm under him and pressing the phone back to his ear.

He heard Danny sputter on the other end for half a moment. "What?"

"5-0. Don't quit."

Danny continued to make sounds that Steve couldn't decipher. He wasn't sure he'd be able to figure them out even if he'd been on the top of his game.

"Of all the... Damn it, Steve!"

Steve wanted to laugh, but he couldn't seem to get the breath to move that deeply into his lungs. Instead it came out sounding more like he was choking and he heard his partner - he was still his partner, right? Danny had called him partner. That meant he wasn't leaving him - call his name again.

"Stay with me, Steve," Danny's voice filled his ears. "I'm almost there. You just got to stay with me."

"I'm sorry, Danno." Steve murmured. The cool evening breeze was lulling him towards sleep and away from the agony he felt.

"No. Absolutely not. This does not get you off the hook for earlier, mister. A convenient car wreck just doesn't cut it."

There was a soft huff from his partner (and they were still partners, damn it all) and an ominous creaking sound Danny feared was the truck getting ready to slide or cave in or something else disastrous.

"Hang on, you hang on for me." he said to Steve. Ahead, he could see the patch of guardrail punctured from where the truck and crushed and broken it away. The Camaro skidded to a halt and flew from the seat quicker than he ever should have. He peered over the ravine, seeing Steve's tattered truck towards the bottom and the destruction in had left in its wake. He swallowed hard and hoped that the ambulance would be right behind him.

"Steve? I'm here, okay? I'm coming down. You still with me?"

"Long as you want me," Steve replied.

The smile tugged at Danny's lips despite his best efforts to keep it down. "Cheeky bastard." he murmured.

He started down the steep incline, taking care not to fall and wind up injured himself and attempting not to send loose rocks skittering towards his partner's head. After what seemed like an eternity he reached the drivers side cab door and he eased it open, the top of it scratching against the ground. When he got the door open he crouched and touched Steve's head.

"Hey, I'm here. Steve, I'm here, partner."

Steve shifted but instantly seized up at the motion.

"Easy," Danny urged, trying to gage the other man's injuries. He was sure that Steve had been buckled in and had found a way out of it, somehow, and wondered briefly if that had been the thump he'd heard on the phone.

"Danny?" Steve managed, the name sounding slurred and he tried to shift again so that he could see his blond partner. He finally positioned himself so that he caught sight of the tie and he could make out blond hair. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. "Danno?"

"Yeah, I'm here," the blond figure responded, touching his cheek lightly. "Just stay still. Help's on the way."

Steve frowned, agitated and jerked, hissing in pain with every movement. Danny shifted to sit so he could be as close to Steve as possible. Steve's fingers found Danny's still against his cheek and curled around them.

"I'm sorry." he breathed.

Danny squeezed his fingers. "Now I know you have an injury. That's the second time you've said that to me in ten minutes."

"I mean it. You're a good cop. A good partner." Steve swallowed thickly. "A good friend. I didn't..." his breathing was becoming labored, his eyes slipping shut. "Didn't mean..."

"I know," Danny said hurriedly. "I know, Steve. Don't close your eyes. Don't go to sleep." Panic was beginning to rise in him again and he gripped Steve's fingers. He couldn't remember the last time he felt quite so scared. "Steve... Damn you. Don't you dare leave me. Don't you dare abandon me."

Steve focused on breathing and the warmth of Danny's hand around his own. There was so much he had left to do. The investigation his father had left him. Making sure his father's death wasn't in vain. Taking care of Mary. Taking care of his team.

"_Danno_."

It was so soft Danny almost missed it, but the tension slid out of Steve's body and his grip went slack a second later. Sirens echoed all around as help came in what the blond detective feared was just moments too late.

* * *

Danny Williams was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. It was the kind of tired that meant he'd spent the entire week prior tracking and finding the men that had t-boned his partner's truck and left him for dead. He was sure that if Steve had been there that the other would have been somewhat surprised at the uncharacteristic lack of "cordialness" in Danny's voice as Chin had to pull him back before he pummeled one of the suspects beyond help. They were safely behind bars now with no hope of bail. The adrenaline had worn off in a rush, but it was okay. Danny walked slowly through the swishing doors and nodded at familiar faces around before taking the elevator up to the appropriate floor.

He was going to be in trouble, he knew, because he'd barely shown his face there since the wreck. He'd had to catch them, he told himself, but that didn't entirely make up for the fact that he hadn't been there. He took a deep breath as the elevator doors slid open and he walked toward the desk.

"Detective Williams," the nurse greeted cheerfully. "His release forms have just been signed and I didn't tell him you were coming." She smiled knowingly, winking at the blond.

"Okay?" Danny ventured, trying to catch what she meant. Far, far too little sleep.

"I thought it'd be a nice surprise," she explained.

"Oh. Well, we'll see how about that." He said with a weak smile.

A door opened down the hall and voices could be heard from within.

"I am not riding anywhere in that wheelchair."

Danny smiled. Only Steve.

"Lt. Commander, as I've explained to you it's hospital policy…"

"I appreciate that, Nurse, really I do but it isn't necessary and it isn't happening."

Danny stood in the door way. Steve's shirt was slightly askew, the buttoning one button off. It was a testament to how tired he was that he hadn't noticed, or hadn't bothered to fix it. He looked tired, too. Danny was surprised at the wave of relief he felt at seeing the other man on his feet, already spitting fire.

"Excuse me, Nurse? Would you give us a minute? Leave the chair." Danny said.

Surprised, she nodded and backed into the hallway, the door shutting behind her. The hope and gladness in Steve's eyes at the sight of him gave way all too quickly to caution.

The thought had occurred to Danny when he'd entered the building that there was a good possibility that the conversation that he'd had with his partner down by the truck - or even the one when he'd first woken after surgery, just before Danny had taken it as a sign that he was able to go after the sorry sons of bitches that had made it necessary - wouldn't be remembered. Steve had head injuries on top of a long list of other hurts. That coupled with the fact that the blond had not been often present once he was sure that Steve was out of danger did not look good on him.

"Hey, partner," he greeted, trying to sound cheerful.

"Hey." Steve replied. He looked down and a flash of irritation crossed his face as he saw the buttons on his shirt. Steve started fumbling to fix them. "I heard you got all the guys."

Danny chewed on his bottom lip. "Yeah. Yeah we did. Listen, Steve, I-"

"That's good." Steve said, cutting him off. "You guys did good."

Finally the struggle was too much for him to watch and Danny stepped forward, brushing Steve's hands away to fix the buttons. "Geeze. I should have brought you a t-shirt or something. You're only going to be standing here doing this next year."

Steve said nothing, merely stood and let Danny fix it. Danny paused, feeling slightly awkward as he finished the last button on the taller man's shirt. Danny glanced up, meeting the dark blue gaze.

"Hey. Hey, I'm sorry." Danny whispered.

He couldn't tell if Steve was angry with him for not being there, hurt, or if the other man felt anything at all over it. There was just a blank look that met his, devoid of any of the emotion that he'd seen play across that usually stern face and linger in those intense eyes. Finally he swallowed hard and took a breath.

"I wanted to be here. Honest," he murmured, feeling as if his voice were coming out smaller than he'd originally intended it to.

Steve shifted, not away, but enough to make Danny want to reach out and take hold of him, shake him by the shoulders or slap him across the face. Anything had to be better than this. He could take Steve angry and self-righteous and insulting. He might not take it well, but he could take it. The silence and indifference was enough to break his heart.

"I thought you were dead, you know? For that one godforsaken moment I thought you'd finally bit it and all I could think about was strangling each of those scrawny bastards with my bare hands until their faces turned blue and then I'd think what if I came back here and you hadn't pulled through and I hadn't caught them? What kind of partner would I be then, huh? And I'll tell you something else, I'm not leaving. I'm not. Not unless you really me to go and if you do...well fine, I'll go. But could we call it amicable because I don't think anyone will ever hire me again if they find out I got fired from a Governor's task force. Steve," Danny, who had delivered most of this speech to a speck of lint on his partner's shirt, looked up again in time to catch the spark of emotion… amusement, aggravation, affection, hell it didn't matter to him at that point. "You're my friend, Steve." he ended, faltering on the word.

The edges of Steve's lips seemed to tug upward at the declaration. "Friend huh?" he asked, searching out the brighter blue eyes.

"Yeah," Danny admitted softly.

The smile broadened and Steve shifted his gaze over to the nurse's station where the red-headed nurse that had been trying to corral him earlier turned hastily back to her paperwork.

"They're not going to let me walk out of here, are they?"

"They're pretty adamant about the whole wheelchair thing," Danny answered, suddenly wondering if he'd been speaking to a brick wall. Steve nodded and moved, sitting in the wheelchair gingerly.

"Well?" he asked, looking at Danny expectantly.

"You're unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable, you know that?" Danny asked, shaking his head. He circled around to push his partner and patted Steve's shoulder impulsively. For a split second, Steve reached up and caught his hand and squeezed it before releasing it again.

"You realize you're going to have to drive for a while?" he asked.

"Thank God for blessings in disguise." Danny said with a grin.


	14. Thanks and Remembrance

Because You're Always Right (Part 14: Thanks and Remembrance)

Note: Thank you all so much for your reviews! And I apologize again for the delay between parts. It won't be so long before the next one. Also, this chapter is dedicated to Daniel, not only the cannon one but Saiko's real life Daniel who was stationed in Hawaii for _three years and never saw the Arizona._ Ahem. At least this way one of them will make the visit. Enjoy!

* * *

It wasn't that he had anything particularly against the site. He'd always had a deep respect for the men that were entombed below the water's surface, but that didn't require him to get on the ferry and go out there. Not that the water made him nervous. No.

"But, Danno, I have to go for school!" Danny Williams glanced down at his daughter who had gone with him on the brief trip to the office to get some paperwork that needed to be filled out before Monday. Her eyes lit up when she saw her father's partner sitting at his desk, nose deep in files on one thing or another.

"Uncle Steve! Tell him that he has to take me!"

"Take you where?" Steve asked, glancing up from his work.

"To Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona!"

Steve's dark blue eyes shifted from the little girl to her father. "Why wouldn't you take your daughter to see the Arizona?"

"I never said I wouldn't!" Danny protested irritably. It was just like Steve to be around at precisely the wrong moment.

"Please tell me you've been." Steve watched him momentarily, his face contorting through various expressions before he settled on an exaggerated disappointment. "You've been here nearly a year, Danny."

"There's a ferry that takes you out there," Danny answered, as if the excuse explained it all away.

"Your point?" Steve asked.

"It's a boat. Going to a bigger boat."

"It's a transport to take you to a memorial situated above the Arizona's resting place. There's never been an incident involving the tourists." Steve said.

"And how do you that something won't happen?" Danny asked.

Steve shrugged. "It's a Navy launch."

"Of course, that makes perfect sense. Your Navy brethren are nothing short of Poseidon's unclaimed offspring."

Steve smirked. "He can't claim us all."

"Maybe Uncle Steve could come with us, Danno. Then you wouldn't have to be afraid of the ferry." Grace suggested.

"Concerned, honey, I'm concerned about the ferry."

Grace wrapped herself around one of Steve's arms. "You have to come with us, Uncle Steve. Otherwise we'll never get off the shore."

Steve bit the inside of his cheeks to keep from laughing. Danny shot him a furious look that only furthered the amusement.

"Sure, Gracie," he said after a moment. "I'll go with you to make sure your daddy's not scared."

"I'm concerned!" Danny growled out.

"Do I need to hold your hand, Danno?" the taller man asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Shut up. Just shut up."

"Mommy says not to use that word," Gracie grumbled, still latched tightly to Steve's arm.

"Mommy's rules don't apply to Uncle Steve." Danny informed her. "Nobody's rules apply to Uncle Steve." He added pointedly.

Steve put a sticky note on the folder he'd been looking at and set it on top of the desk before standing and taking Grace's hand.

"You want to run the siren?" he asked.

"Yes!" she said excitedly. "Can you get us to the front of the tour line, too?"

"That might be pushing it."

"It didn't hurt to ask."

Danny cleared his throat. "Excuse me, children, but if it's all the same to both of you I think I'll drive. I'd hate to die before we even get to the boat."

"Dad," Grace protested, "Uncle Steve already claimed driver and I get shotgun."

"So I get no say in anything that happens today?" Danny grumbled.

Steve patted his partner on the shoulder. "I think you've got the point."

* * *

While the lines weren't overly long to wait on the ferries, they were long enough for Danny to stand and get a good look at the ferry itself, the memorial, and all the water that was in between. His mind played over and over again all the things that could go wrong, and how the odds of those things actually happening - no matter how absurd they may have seemed - went up dramatically with Steve McGarrett along for the ride.

"Your grandpa was on the ship?" Gracie was asking as they took their place at the end of the line. Her dark eyes were wide with wonder.

"Yes, he was. How did you know?" Steve asked, glance sliding to his partner who had the decency to look somewhat sheepish.

"Danno told me. He talks about you a lot." Grace answered. "Tell me about your grandpa?" she asked, looking up at him.

Steve shrugged and smiled sadly. "I didn't know him. Not personally. He died here a long time before I was born. How old do you think I am, anyway?"

A grin spread across his little girl's face, but then was replaced by a serious look that can only be held by an eight-year-old.

"My grandpa died before I met him too," she said solemnly. "But Daddy says he was nice. I bet your grandpa was really nice too, Uncle Steve."

Steve gave her a half smile as she took hold of his hand with one of her own and reached out and grasped Danny's with her other. Just like that they boarded the ferry. Steve was certain that his partner's steps hesitated as he stepped out towards the boat, but the little girl tugging him along caused him to step over with a calculated breath and take a seat as close to the middle as he could. The ride over didn't take as long as he feared and Gracie was nearly jumping with excitement when they docked. She dug into her bag and pulled a crumpled lei from it.

"My teacher gave us each one," she said proudly. "I want to give it to your grandpa."

It took all of Danny's not inconsiderable detective skills to catch the undercurrents in Steve's face that counted as expressions. A shade of panic, a twitch of uncertainty, a half-frown of confusion. Danny smiled as Steve finally threw him a helpless look and Danny nodded.

"I, ah, thank you, Gracie. You don't have to do that." he said.

She looked up at him, face open and honest. "I want to." she said.

Steve felt a rush of gratitude for every painstaking moment that had brought him to this part of what he considered his ohana. Danny patted his shoulder.

"This is really something, for being over water and all." he said quietly.

His bright blue eyes were squinted against the sun as he looked at the sweeping memorial and the flag that flew high and proudly over the gravesite. At the far end were lists upon lists of names of the men that had died in that very spot. Even though tourists were mulling there was a reverent sort of hush over everything.

"Look, Daddy!" Grace exclaimed in a hushed whisper, dragging her reluctant father to the side of the railing and peering over. She climbed up it, nearly sending him into a panic attack, but the request that she get back down to more solid footing died in his throat as he peered down to what she was pointing at. Oil bubbled up to the surface, and they could see the very top of the ship through the clear water. A certain kind of awe gripped him and he watched his daughter carefully peel the petals from her lei and let them go over the water. They floated down, beautiful against the shimmering liquid.

The three of them stood there together quietly for a long time. Grace leaned her head against Danny's arm and slipped her hand back into Steve's. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and looked over at Danny.

"Are you glad you came?" he asked quietly.

Danny nodded. "Yeah. You were right, this is too important to miss."


	15. Patch Up and Promise

Because You're Always Right (Part 15: Patch Up and Promise)

Note: This is the unfortunate spawn of Saiko and I kicking around one afternoon and saying to each other, "So we've never done a bar fight…" And the result is one part Grace, two parts whump, and a whole lotta snark. Also, Danny's living arrangements are based on what we see in the first episode. We plan to go back and re-watch to see if that's changed and we missed it. Oh, who are we kidding. We'll re-watch everything just for the McDanno of it all. Enjoy!

* * *

The rain had been pouring for three days straight and it was about to grate on his very last nerve. Not only had Rachel called last second and said that he would not in fact have Grace that weekend like she had promised, but apparently the skies had something against Danny Williams that day as they let forth their deluge against the windows of his small one room apartment. He glanced lazily towards the door as it rocked back and forth against its hinges with the wind. Movement caught his eye and a figure hunched against the downpour stopped at his front door and knocked heavily against it.

"Go away!" Danny shouted.

It was probably a salesman, although only God knew what someone would try to be selling in the middle of a monsoon, unless it was monsoon insurance. Idly, Danny wondered if he needed monsoon insurance before remembering he didn't have much worth insuring in the apartment. It couldn't be anybody he knew since Rachel always heralded her arrival by several phone calls threatening death if he wasn't on the exact patch of ground she needed him to be on when she arrived. Kono would text; Chin didn't come over. Steve would just let himself in. The pounding on his door continued.

"I don't want any!" Danny shouted. "How do you say no in Hawaiian?" he grumbled to himself.

The figure shifted. A split second later, the door was kicked in.

A man stood there, drenched to the bone even with his dark hoodie around his face.

"Don't move, Detective," he said as he aimed a gun at the blond. "Sit back down, nice and slow."

Danny had stood as soon as the door had been shoved open and he slowly sat back down on the couch, hands up. He eyed the other man carefully, feeling like he should know him. He'd seen him somewhere. His mind went over various pictures of all the cases that he and Steve had looked at since their partnership had begun. Finally it clicked into place. He'd seen the man's picture in a file linked to the Hesse brothers' case. Blue eyes flickered to his gun on the nightstand unfortunately far out of his reach, which wasn't good at all.

"Take it easy. What's your name?" Danny asked carefully.

"It doesn't matter what my name is. I'm here to deliver a message."

"Well let me just grab a pen and paper." Danny said, starting to rise. The gun waved him back to sitting.

"Very funny. It's a message for Steve McGarrett."

Danny licked his lips and briefly turned his eyes upward before looking at the man again. "You're kidding right? You know you've got the wrong place? He doesn't live here."

The man nodded. "Oh, I know. Hesse says hello."

He lifted the gun and Danny braced himself to launch out of the way. A great crash of thunder caused the building to vibrate and the place was illuminated for a split second by lightning before everything went dark. Danny took advantage of the power outage and jumped forward. The two men struggled in the darkness, rolling and battering each other across the floor and the gun skidded away. An elbow crashed into Danny's jaw before he could get the assailant's arm slammed painfully against the ground with the detective's knee on top of it.

"So, I seem to remember that your rap sheet was a mile long, so I guess you know your rights, huh?" Danny growled out, reaching with one hand for his cuffs on the nightstand and the other for his captive's free hand. A flash of lighting momentarily illuminated the room and blue eyes caught a glimpse of light bouncing off metal held in the hand he hadn't cuffed yet.

Their scuffle had brought the attacker back into contact with the gun and he swung it around with a sudden, vicious motion. It connected with Danny's skull and the detective reeled back with stars dancing across his vision. He could feel blood on the side of his face and tried to reorient himself but it was too late. The man was up, one cuff dangling from his wrist, and he punched Danny in the gut. A kick to the side and a second blow to the head sent Danny unconscious to the floor. His attacker slid the gun into the waistband of his pants and disappeared into the night. The sound of the door banging against the frame was the only sound left.

* * *

Rain poured steadily outside and amongst the chaos of the small apartment Danny's phone rang out in a cheery tune reserved only for his daughter. Again and again the tune filled the room but no one answered. Time ticked by, the rain fell, and finally the door was pushed open again; this time by someone much smaller than before.

Grace gave a wave back to the driver who was ignorant of the fact that her mother had not sent Gracie to her father's place for the day. The young girl scooted inside. She looked around the apartment with wide and suddenly fear filled eyes.

"Daddy?" She ran to him, small hands grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "Daddy? Danno!"

He remained still. Terrified, Grace looked around the dark apartment and saw his cell phone on the end table. Quickly, she snatched it and went back to sit near her father as she dialed the one person she knew could help him.

* * *

Tucked safely away in his father's garage, his upper body underneath the old Mercury, Steve almost didn't hear the phone and caught it at the last second. He wiped his hands on a towel and shook his head, smiling when he saw the picture and number of his partner.

"Don't you have anything better to do than harass me on a Saturday?" he greeted.

"Uncle Steve," Gracie sobbed, "Please come. Danno's hurt."

Steve's blood froze. "Gracie?"

The little girl was speaking so quickly and through such full sobs that the former Seal couldn't understand most of what she said. He was able to calm her down enough by telling her to stay exactly where she was at and that he would be there in just a minute. Without bothering to clean himself up he grabbed his keys and was in his truck before he even really realized what was going on. Steve didn't understand why Grace would be at Danny's in the first place. His partner had been complaining the day before about the fact that Rachel had decided that she needed the weekend with Grace and had "offered" to give up a different weekend if she could just have that one. Steve didn't know and part of him didn't care as he sped along the road and whipped into the parking lot in far too little time for the distance.

As soon as he slammed the car door shut Grace came running from the apartment and he bent to pick her up in a hug. He held her tight, moving out of the rain as quickly as he could.

"He won't wake up," she mumbled into his shoulder. Her tiny frame shook, but she wasn't crying anymore.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. It'll be okay. Are you hurt?" he asked.

She shook her head "no" and a small knot of his worry eased. He pushed the door back open with the toe of his shoe and gently set her down. He knelt by Danny and checked his pulse. His skin was warm and the beat was strong under his fingertips. Steve braced Danny's shoulders with his arm and gently eased him on to his back. Danny groaned softly.

"Grace, can you try the lights and see if the electricity's back on, please?" Steve asked.

She nodded and turned to fiddle with the light switch. Steve patted Danny's cheek.

"Danny? Can you hear me?"

Danny woke with a jolt, ready to continue the fight that had long since been over.

"Easy, Danno," Steve said gently, releasing the other man so that he wouldn't get a fist to the jaw. Bright blue eyes blinked in confusion and the pain seemed to catch up with him as he leaned forward, head in his hands.

"Daddy!" Grace squealed, the uncooperative light switch forgotten.

Danny grabbed Steve's arm and looked towards the sound of his daughter's voice.

"Gracie?" he asked, feeling twice as confused. She joined them on the floor, completing the small circle.

"You were out for a long time." she said, sounding nervous.

Danny reached out and touched her face, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "Baby, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Steve patted her shoulder. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

Grace nodded. "Can you go into the kitchen and get a dish towel? Run some cold water over it and bring it back to me. Be careful."

Grace jumped up to get the requested items.

Danny leaned heavily on Steve. "I don't understand." he said.

"That makes two of us. Do you have a camping lantern or anything?" Steve asked.

"In the bathroom." Danny said.

"Can you stand?"

Danny nodded slowly and felt Steve's grip on him tighten to help him to his feet. He swayed dangerously, his head throbbing and dark spots dancing at the edge of his vision. His partner's hands were steadying him and he knew that he'd have met the floor again far too quickly if he hadn't been there.

"When'd you get here?" Danny asked as the inched towards the bathroom, avoiding the litter of junk that acted as an obstacle course. He'd clean when this was said and done he promised himself as he tripped over a pair of trousers and nearly fell again. "Better yet, when'd Grace get here? Rachel called and canceled our weekend together."

"I don't know. I don't think she's been here long. She called me; said you'd been hurt." Steve paused, his voice tight. "That was about ten minutes ago. What happened?"

They made it to the bathroom and Steve sat Danny down on the closed toilet seat. He fumbled around under the sink for the light. When he found it, he placed it close to Danny and flicked it on, flooding the small bathroom with bright fluorescent light. Danny winced at the light, and Steve winced at the sight of him. Danny had several bruises forming and cuts darkened with drying blood. Danny tried to smile and his lip cracked.

"That bad, huh?"

"Not good," the former Seal answered.

Gracie poked her head in. "Here's the towel, Uncle Steve," she announced, handing the damp towel to him.

He frowned at the pizza sauce stains on it, but didn't comment as he lifted it gently to his partner's head, dabbing at the dried blood. Danny pulled back, but Steve grabbed hold of his shoulder.

"Sit still," he ordered and continued working on it.

All at once Danny stiffened and turned his eyes up at the man standing over him.

"A guy busted in here," he said as the memories returned. "I recognized him from your files on Victor Hesse."

Anyone else would have missed the beat in the dabbing motion Steve was making, but Danny felt the flicker.

Steve's eyes narrowed. "Do you know who it was?"

Danny shut his eyes and tried to place the face with the file in his mind. "San...Sir...Sev...Rico..."

"Please don't hurt yourself. Further." Steve said.

Grace tugged on Danny's sleeve. "Are you going to be okay, Daddy?" she whispered.

Danny opened his eyes. "Of course, Monkey. Steve is going to patch me all up, we're going to drop you off at your mom's where you belong, and then we're going to go catch the bad guy." Danny assured her.

"And then we'll be going to the hardware store to get Danno a new front door." Steve added.

Grace frowned. "But I don't want to go home."

"How'd you get here anyway? Did your mom have the driver drop you off?"

Gracie shuffled her shoes against the linoleum floor, eyes suddenly fascinated with it. "The driver did drop me off."

Danny felt a bit of dread at the statement. "Gracie, honey, tell me your mom knows your here."

Grace looked back up at him, her small face scrunched up and tears standing in her eyes. "It's not like she'll miss me anyway. It was just a party with a bunch of grownups. I was supposed to be here anyway."

Her father groaned. "Rachel's going to kill me."

"I'll tell her I wanted to come," Grace promised, holding tightly to his hand. "I promise, Danno."

His heart melted at her words and he pulled her into a hug, forcing Steve to stop his work.

"It's okay, Monkey. We'll figure out what to tell her when we get there."

Steve, unsure what to do in the wake of a father-daughter bonding moment, returned to rummaging under the sink for a first aid kit. He found a kit, pulled it out and opened it only to find it full of baseball cards. Steve sighed, shut the kit and placed it back under the sink. Eventually he pulled together a couple of Band-Aids, half a roll of gauze, some hydrogen peroxide, and an unfortunately old looking tube of Neosporin.

"Tell me the other guy looks worse." he said.

Danny shook his head. "The other guy doesn't look worse." He shot a quick glance at Grace. "The other guy cheated." Danny said, with a pointed look.

"So he had a gun." Steve said.

Grace's eyes widened.

The blond glared and reached over, putting his hands over his daughter's ears. "Really? Do you not get hints?"

"What?"

"She's eight!"

"Danno, I can _still_ hear you," Gracie murmured.

"But you're not supposed to be listening."

She tugged his hands down, looking up at him with a surprisingly strong look in her dark eyes. "I don't want to go home to Mommy. I want to stay with you." She stood up straight. "I won't let the bad guy hurt you again."

Danny smiled at her. "Sweetie, you gotta let Daddy and -" he grimaced - "Uncle Steve handle the bad guys, okay?"

Grace didn't answer, but watched with an eagle eye as Steve finished cleaning and bandaging Danny's various assortments of injuries. Steve wrapped the knuckles of Danny's right hand, pressed two Advil into his fingers and Danny tried to ignore the dangerous glint in his partner's eyes that meant lots of shooting first and asking questions later. It didn't seem to matter when Steve shot their only lead, because when Steve shot their only lead (or hung him off a roof, or threw him in the shark infested ocean) he was striking the fear of God into the criminal element of the known world.

"Your knee?" Steve murmured. And yet the man could still take him by surprise.

Danny shook his head. "It's good."

Steve nodded then studied Grace for a moment. "You'll need a badge." he said finally.

"I have one of those Sherriff badges that came in my cereal box," Grace assured him.

Steve looked thoughtful for a moment and Danny was actually getting worried.

"Well," the dark haired man said at last, "does it look like this?" He showed her his own badge, ever-present on his belt. Her hopeful look faded into a pout.

"No."

"Well, then I don't think there's much we can do about it, Gracie, except maybe take you out for ice cream next time you come see your dad."

Danny shot him a look. When had he gotten so good at talking with kids? Better yet, when had he gotten so good at placating _his_ child?

She looked thoughtful for a moment then motioned for him to come closer. He bent close and she whispered something in his ear. Steve's look of surprise worried Danny.

"Grace, I can't promise that." Steve said uneasily.

"But you'll do your best." she said with certainty.

This Steve considered. "Yes. Always." He promised firmly.

She nodded. "We'd better get going then, if you don't want the bad guy to get too far away."

"Sanchez. Rudy Sanchez was the guy's name." Danny said, the information clicking in his head. He cautiously stood. "What did you sort of promise my daughter? Hey, don't just leave me in here! Oi! You two!"

* * *

Steve waited in his truck as Danny walked Grace up to the gates. There was much yelling and wild motions - mostly on Danny's part - when Rachel came out, frantic, to take her daughter in the house. The blond detective threw his hands up and turned and left, Rachel still shouting behind him. He slammed the door shut behind him.

"Well, are you going to drive today?" he bit out.

"No, I was waiting for your invitation, because honestly I can't do anything without your directive." Steve shot back.

"Oh is that so? Then I direct you to shut up and drive."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Danny paused. "Where are we going?" he demanded.

"Rudy's hangout is a bar called Sticks. If we're lucky, he'll be there. If not, we should be able to get a lead on his whereabouts."

"Sticks?" Danny asked incredulously. "What the hell kind of bar name is Sticks?"

"How should I know? It's in the sticks? They have a lot of pool sticks? It's a place for people with sticks up their asses? I didn't name the damn thing." Steve said.

"It's stupid." Danny grumbled.

"Is that your expert opinion? You want me to write them a letter of complaint for you?"

"Yeah, would you mind? You can add your apology letter for shooting up their establishment in the same envelope."

Steve cracked a smile at that one. "Who says we're going to shoot up the place?"

"I've seen that look. It's the one that says that I'll get yelled at if I shoot the suspect and you'll get some sick pleasure from it if you do."

"I don't plan to kill him."

"You say that," Danny grumbled, watching the road pass outside. "So what did you promise my daughter?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit."

"Listen, just because you got your ass handed to you and your ex is pissed - which isn't abnormal, might I add - that doesn't mean you have to gripe at me."

"I'm not griping."

"Yeah. You're a bucket of sunshine."

"I didn't get my ass handed to me."

"Looked like it when I walked in."

"Not all of us went to Seal school, okay? Can I just say that all the years I was a cop in Jersey I never had someone break into my home?" Danny pointed out.

"Maybe he confused it for a rendezvous point for his various criminal activities." Steve said mildly.

Danny's expression darkened. "My place does not look like criminal activity goes on there."

"I'm just saying that maybe we should look at some sort of alarm set-up when we go get you a better door."

They'd rigged the door shut on the way out, hoping it would hold until their return. Steve pulled into the parking lot of Sticks, which appeared to be a little hole-in-the-wall local place that had seen better days.

Thankfully the rain had stopped some time before and the two men stepped out into the muddy parking lot. Danny didn't like the idea of just waltzing in without backup, but he knew that per the usual he was the backup. Steve strode in ahead of him, eyes scanning for his suspect. Finally they locked onto a figure hunched in the back corner of the dimly lit bar, nursing a beer and a phone call. He was turned half to the wall, bent over to move away from the sound as best as he could.

"So how are we doing this?" Danny murmured, but Steve's look said it all.

They crossed the bar, its scarce other patrons going silent as they walked by. Rudy Sanchez didn't notice until it was too late. Danny had slid into the booth next to him and Steve across from him. Steve grabbed the phone and broke it in half.

"Oops. Your phone broke." he dropped the top half into Rudy's beer glass, sticking the half with the battery and the SIM card into his pocket.

"Hi. I'm Steve. My partner here says you have a message for me." Rudy's mouth was slightly ajar.

"You just...my phone..." he turned to look at Danny, who punched him in the face.

"Yeah, see how that feels?" he said.

Behind them, the bartender reached for his bat and nodded to another man seated across the room.

Steve raised his eyebrow and Danny and looked back at Rudy. "Tell me where Hesse is. Tell me right now and this doesn't have to get ugly."

"You're crazy. Hesse is dead, everybody knows that." Rudy said nervously, wiping blood away with his sleeve.

"Oh, so you're a psychic now, are you Rudy? Because while you did give me a good crack to the head, I distinctly remember you telling me that the message was from Hesse. Why would you make that up for kicks and giggles?" Danny asked. "We know you worked with him while he was alive. He had you whipped enough to do his dirty work from the other side?"

Rudy glared at Danny and reached out to grab the front of his shirt. "I'm not whipp-" he was cut off by Steve reaching over, grabbing him by the collar and bouncing his head off the small table.

"Don't touch him." Steve snapped. He pulled the side of his jacket open and turned to the approaching bartender. He pointed to the badge there. "Back off. This is private business."

"That badge don't mean nothin' here, cop." the man said.

Danny had just enough time to duck before the bat came crashing down where he'd been sitting in the booth. He rolled out and he heard Steve readying for a full on fight. Two sets of blue eyes scanned the bar. Where the patrons had been quietly sipping their drinks before, half of them had disappeared and the other half were now standing, holding some weapon or another. If they weren't armed, there was always a chair to grip menacingly.

"Damn it, Steve," Danny growled out.

"What? How do I get blamed for this?" the other demanded roughly as he dodged a glass aimed at him.

"We could have arrested him and then pushed him around in the safety of our own building." Danny said.

"You had two requirements for a bust: with a warrant and on the ground. We're on the ground." Steve said.

"Oh, great, we're halfway there." Danny grumbled, swinging and taking down a man who had quite a few drinks before the party arrived.

"They wouldn't have let us take him without a fight anyway." Steve nearly shouted from where he was wrestling a barstool away from a man.

"Back up. Two very, very simple words. Have you heard them?"

"You are the back up."

"Every single time. I hate you so much." Danny turned to see Rudy trying to scurry out and grabbed him. "Oh no you don't. We're not done with you."

The captured con turned eyes wild when he realized that the detective had a firm grip on him. "I ain't afraid to kill a cop," he swore.

"And I'm not afraid to question you in a hospital room," the blond returned.

A couple of the bar patrons had started scuffling with one another leaving Steve to deal with the giant bartender still swinging a bat. Steve pulled out his gun.

"Back up, brother. I don't want to shoot you. I just need to take this man in for questioning."

The bartender smiled crookedly. "I can bash your brains in before you get enough rounds off to stop me."

"Tested that theory, have we?" Steve mused. He switched his aim. "If you don't back off, I will shoot every bottle of top shelf liquor you have up there and it will all be wasted before you get to me."

The bartender lowered his weapon.

"That's what I thought."

Danny patted Rudy down. "What the hell did you do with my handcuffs?"

"Sold them" Rudy mumbled.

"You sold my handcuffs?" Danny smacked him on the head. "You don't just sell a man's handcuffs!"

Steve laughed and tossed Danny his handcuffs. Still griping, Danny cuffed Rudy and led him towards the front of the bar. Steve started to pull his phone out to alert Kono that they'd be bringing a suspect in when he caught the bartender's movement.

"Danny!" he shouted. Steve moved, and moved fast. He had a promise to keep.

Danny looked back at the sound of his name and he thought without a doubt he was about to be beaten twice in one day. He braced himself for the impact that he couldn't get away from, but Steve was faster. He was on the bartender before Danny knew what was happening and the bat connected solidly with the former Seal's ribs, sending him sprawled across the bar. In one swift motion Danny clamped the other end of the cuffs onto the bar and pulled his gun.

"I swear, you take one more swing at him, you son of a bitch, and I'll unload this in your skull. See if you can get to either of us that way."

He dropped the bat. Steve slowly pushed himself up, one arm wrapped around his torso. The bartender grabbed a bottle on the bar. Danny squeezed the trigger just as Rudy kicked out. The first shot went wide, the bottle crashing into the side of Steve's head. The second shot didn't miss; the bartender went down a split second after Steve did.

The blond detective was at his friend's side without hesitation, pulling him up into his arms and hands skimming over alcohol-drenched hair, finding a gash just at his hairline where the bottle had broken. Dark blue eyes fluttered open and Steve let out a groan and blinked until his vision began clearing.

"Why are you holding me?" he grumbled.

"Because I had the sudden need to canoodle with you here on the floor of this hell-hole bar. Because you nearly got your head caved in and occasionally that can be life threatening!" Danny growled.

Steve winced when Danny touched the cut, but said nothing. Danny grumbled under his breath and wiped the blood on the front of Steve's t-shirt.

"What did you say?" Steve asked, frowning and trying to focus. He was oddly comfortable with his head on Danny's shoulder, despite being on the floor and despite smelling like..."Brandy?"

"What?" Danny asked. "I didn't say anything about Brandy."

"No, no, I smell like Brandy. I didn't hear what you said."

"I said thank you, you meat-head. You didn't have to do that. We should probably get you checked out." Danny said quietly. Steve shook his head and tried to stand, Danny helping him to his feet.

"No. I want you to book him, I want to go home, I'm not a meat-head, and yes I did have to." Steve said firmly.

Danny was about to argue, but stopped himself, glancing around at the empty bar, fighting patrons having suddenly made themselves scarce. The sound of gunfire must have sobered them up enough get them as far away from the action and the questioning that might follow as possible.

"You know that as soon as the EMTs show up to haul abnormally-huge over there out that they'll flock to you, right?"

Steve gave a slight groan. Slowly and slightly unsteadily he pulled himself away from his partner. "I'll be in the truck and they can look up the paperwork if they need anything from the incident from me."

"Seriously? You're leaving all this for me?"

"What's left to do? Call Max to pronounce him dead and-"

"I swear I'll add to your bruises," Danny growled at the slight perk of Steve's lips.

"What?"

"You know what."

"No, I really don't."

"Yes you do, you bastard."

Steve shrugged, moving stiffly for the door. As he pushed against it he turned, the smirk a bit more evident. "Don't forget to book him, Danno," he said and was gone.


	16. What's New, Pussycat?

Because You're Always Right (Part Sixteen: What's New, Pussycat?)

Note: Thank you all so much for continuing to read and love on our story here! We started doing shorts because we didn't want to conflict with cannon…yeah. So much for that. :D But that is what the fandom is for, and I have to say ya'll are pretty awesome. Thank you so much, and enjoy!

* * *

Danny was lost in sleep, box fan swirling lazily next to his pull out bed, covers pulled up to his chin, happily wrapped around his pillows. His cell phone rang and he cracked one eye open, glaring at the end table just out of his reach. He frowned as he realized he didn't recognize the song. "Born to Run", while one of his favorites, was definitely not one of the songs he'd purchased for a ring-tone. He grimaced.

"Damn it, Steve." he grumbled into his pillow.

He decided to ignore it and shut his eyes. Several minutes later, it rang again. Again, Danny ignored it in favor of his comfortable position. When it rang for a third time, he sighed and untangled himself.

"What the hell do you want, McGarrett? It's after midnight." he growled. At the voice on the other end, his eyes widened in surprise. "Monkey?"

He checked the number, and sure enough it was his daughter's. Steve had changed his ringers again. "I'm sorry, baby, I didn't know it was you. Why are you upset? What's wrong?"

"I found this kitten at school today, and Step-Stan won't let me keep him." Gracie sniffed every couple of words and gave a hiccup. "Momma said she'd give him to the shelter. They kill kitties at the shelter!"

"Oh, honey, the kitty will be okay. Someone will give it a really nice home."

"No they won't!" she wailed, tears evident in her voice.

Danny gripped the phone, unable to really handle his daughter crying. "Gracie, babe, you're mom won't listen to me," he tried to reason with the eight-year-old.

"But you could take him for me, Daddy. He's so cute. You could give him a home."

"Gracie, my apartment doesn't take cats."

The little girl wailed. "They're going to take him in the morning," she sobbed. "And the shelter will kill him because Stan sneezes."

Danny rubbed his face with one hand. "Baby, everybody loves kittens. I'm sure that he'll get adopted right away."

Grace continued to cry. "No he won't and he'll be dead and it will be all my fault because I couldn't hide him good enough."

Danny decided right then and there that he was going to strangle Stan with his bare hands. Better yet, he was going to dig a hole and bury the man in kittens. "Gracie," he sighed. "What can I do, honey?"

"Can we take him to Uncle Steve's?" she hiccuped.

"I..." Danny searched his mind for any reason why Steve wouldn't be able to take the cat. The only thing that seemed to come to mind was that he might accidentally shoot it. Or let it out. Or just... There had to be a name for what Steve did to things, but Danny didn't have one for it. He decided, in the brief pause in which he was thinking that he should have a name for the phenomenon of destruction that was Steve, because he was a recipient of what Steve did most of the time. Finally he decided that the direct approach was best. Not like Steve asked his permission for anything anyway.

"Okay, honey. Just tell your mom that I'm coming to get you. I don't want her calling in the cavalry on me."

He should have known that with Rachel, it wouldn't be that easy. She met him at the door, fuming.

"What is going through your head? Do you have any idea what time it is? You should have told her no. Stan and I had already made a decision about that. You're undermining my parental authority!" She exclaimed.

"First of all, Step-Stan here has no parental authority, okay? Second of all, are you claiming that cat? Is that cat yours?"

"No!"

"Does the cat belong to anybody?"

"No."

"Then I can do what I want with the cat!"

"I don't want you taking Grace out this late."

"It's a Friday night, Rachel."

"It isn't your weekend, Danny."

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you have big family plans? Are you taking our daughter shopping, to the theater, to the beach? Out for a picnic with Stan?"

"Mommy's going shopping with Mrs. Edmunds." Grace announced from the door.

Rachel sighed and Danny gave her a pointed look. "Do you have your overnight bag, Monkey?"

"Yes, Danno."

"So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to take the cat and my daughter. I'm going to find a home for that cat, I'm going to spend an extra Saturday with my daughter, and I will bring her back tomorrow sometime."

Rachel opened her mouth to argue, but softened at the sight of Grace's tear streaked face. "All right." She said softly. "But not too late, please."

Grace raced out the door, cat in her arms.

"Of course not," Danny responded, and under his breath as he walked away, "Wouldn't want to face the wrath of Rachel."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

Danny did not take Grace to his apartment as she expected, but instead to her Uncle Steve's. He frowned at the late hour, but decided that after everything that Steve had done to him since the beginning of their partnership Steve owed him. He rapped hard on the front door. They waited a couple of minutes and Danny knocked on the door again.

"Maybe he's having grown-up time."

Danny thought he might pass out. "What? What is that?"

Grace looked up at him curiously. "Do you not know what it is either? All Mommy will tell me is that what it's called when grown-ups aren't sleepy but kids have to be in bed."

Danny rolled his eyes. "No, baby. I don't know what that is either."

"Maybe you can ask Uncle Steve."

"I'd rather not." Danny said, banging on the door again. "Oi! I know you're in there." he shouted.

Another minute or so ticked by before Steve pulled open his front door. His hair was sticking up all over the place and he looked groggy. Danny smiled. He'd definitely been sound asleep.

"Born to Run? Really?" he asked conversationally.

"It's a classic. Everybody likes Springsteen."

"For Gracie's ring-tone?"

Steve frowned thoughtfully. "Oops. But she likes Springsteen."

"You let her listen to Springsteen?"

"You don't?"

Grace rolled her eyes and held up the kitten. "Uncle Steve, you're the only one who can save my kitten."

Steve dropped his gaze, surprised to see Grace and even more surprised at the tiny black and white kitten which mewed sadly. He glanced between his partner and his daughter and blinked. "I'm dreaming." He said finally.

"No, I',m afraid not," Danny murmured. "I'm assuming we can come in?"

"Your daughter can. It's still up for debate about you and the kitten."

"I hate you so much."

"No you don't, Daddy," Grace chirped at his side and moved past Steve into the house, kitten still in her arms. Once her father followed and the door was closed, she set the cat down and it began exploring, both men watching it carefully.

"So," Steve began hesitantly, trying to hide the yawn that overtook him, "What's up with the cat?"

"Step-Stan doesn't like cats." Danny replied.

"So obviously it must come here."

"Obviously."

Grace tugged on Steve's hand and he bent to pick her up. She sighed dramatically, nestled between the two of them. "Stan said he'd take Arizona to the shelter and that I did bad thing by trying to hide him."

Steve carefully shot Danny a look to see the carefully controlled anger behind his neutral expression. He glanced back to Grace.

"And you thought I would be a good person to take care of…wait, you named it Arizona?"

She nodded. "Because we all went there together and now we'll share a cat."

"Is that eight year old logic or Williams logic?" Steve asked.

"Both." Grace said.

Steve turned to his partner and received no help.

"You'll let me keep him here, right Uncle Steve? Daddy's apartment won't take him."

Steve looked to the little, tailless cat on the floor that was poking through his things, looking for something to rub against and finding plenty. It looked up with its big yellow eyes and meowed lovingly.

"Of course it wouldn't," Steve grumbled, crumbling under the weight of the Williams puppy-look that only worked coming from Grace. "So why does he have no tail?"

"He's a Manx cat." Danny said.

"I have no supplies for a cat." Steve offered, knowing it wouldn't help him either.

"We can go in the morning! I get to spend tomorrow with Danno." Grace said. She yawned and laid her head on Steve's shoulder.

"Oh really? You'll have to help me pick out the right collar and the right bowl and everything. That's a lot of choosing." Steve said.

"That's s'okay." Grace murmured. "You'll be good at picking things."

Steve looked at Danny. "So it seems." He replied.

"One more thing, Uncle Steve?" Gracie asked sleepily.

"What's that, kiddo?"

"Can we stay the night? I'm tired and I don't want to leave Arizona. He'll be scared all alone and in a new place."

Steve glanced at his partner who was shaking his head.

"Gracie, we can come back first thing in the morning." Danny paused, forcing that cat's name out of his mouth. "Arizona won't even know that we're gone."

"Yes he will!"

Steve sensed the tension building in the little girl and pushed down his own panic. Grace crying or being upset was not something he was prepared to deal with, especially in the middle of the night.

"Hey, why don't you take Arizona to the guest room and I'll bring you some newspapers in case he needs to do any business in the night. I'll make pancakes in the morning and we'll go shopping for all his kitty needs, okay?"

She brightened considerably and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Uncle Steve!" she whispered and popped down to grab the cat.

Danny looked at him after she was out of sight, aghast. "She doesn't even have to threaten tears and you fold like a house of cards in a light breeze. You're absolutely useless, you know that?"

Steve glared at him. "Says he who showed up in faith in the middle of the night hoping I would take the cat and spare you the misery of a depressed eight year old."

Danny sighed. "Thanks for that." He paused and toed the floor with his shoe. "You'll really make pancakes in the morning?" he asked finally.

Steve couldn't stop himself from grinning. "With blueberries," He paused, enjoying the hopeful look on Danny's face before adding, "and napalm."


	17. Rudolph vs Randolph

Because You're Always Right (Part Seventeen: Rudolph vs. Randolph)

Note: It's the Christmas short, in which Steve teaches Grace a new Christmas carol! Saiko would like to point out that her father actually did teach the song you are about to encounter when she was just four years old. This explains a lot of things, actually. Also, we have a longer Christmas story that will be a little late…we got a little behind with things. In any case, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and festive greetings for your holiday. We hope that they are blessed and joyful! Enjoy!

* * *

Six hours. He only got six hours with his daughter on Christmas. It wasn't a whole lot to ask for in the grand scheme of things. After all, he'd run the numbers more than once and was increasingly more disappointed each time with how few hours he was allotted to be with his daughter over the course of her childhood.

Danny Williams finally shoved the remainder of the paperwork - somehow forgotten (ignored) by a certain Seal that had shuffled on home several hours earlier without even checking on it - into the appropriate files and grabbed the keys to the Camaro. The driver would have dropped Grace off at Steve's house, as she had begged Uncle Steve to help her make eggnog. Danny just hoped that Steve hadn't forgotten that promise like he had the paperwork. If so, he'd find his daughter sitting on the front doorstep when he reached his partner's house.

Fortunately, there was no sign of Grace on the porch when he pulled into the driveway and he couldn't stop a smile at the lights twinkling brightly from the roof line of the house. After much pestering, Steve had agreed to put them up, even if he did threaten death if he was served with the most obnoxious house on the beach award. Danny let himself in and was greeted with the warm smell of freshly baked cookies and the sound of his daughter and his partner laughing in the kitchen. He shut the door softly behind him and allowed himself to relish the moment.

The decorations did not stop on the inside. Garland was weaved in and out of the banister on the stairs, a wreath looked down from the top, and a tree sat in the corner, sparsely decorated but there. Danny shifted the bag that held the Santa costume to the opposite arm and juggled the presents as best as he could as he continued through the house.

"Danno!" Gracie's voice echoed from the kitchen. "Come in here!"

Danny dropped everything on command and shuffled into the kitchen. Cookies were piled high, baking ingredients sprawled everywhere - including on both Grace's and Steve's faces - and everything looked... well, rather perfect, if Danny were honest.

"Danno! Uncle Steve taught me a song!"

Danny pointed at Steve. "What did I tell you about that? Did we not agree that there would be no sharing of your sailor's drinking songs, bar songs, jingles, ballads or limericks?"

Steve rolled his eyes and dropped a ball of cookie dough on a cookie sheet. "Now you remember it's the Navy."

"Danno, what's a limerick?" Grace asked.

"Nothing, baby."

Grace looked at Steve.

"It's like a grown-up version of a haiku." he offered.

Grace nodded, adding sprinkles to a different batch.

"No...don't...what? No, that is not what a limerick is. What's your song, Gracie?" Danny asked, joining them at the counter.

A grin lit her face and she dusted her hands off. "It's kind of like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer... but not."

Danny forced a smile. This was not good. "How does it go, Monkey?" he managed, regretting every word even as he spoke them. His bright eyes turned slightly towards Steve, silent threat hanging in the air if he didn't like what he heard.

"_Randolph the two-gun killer had some very shiny guns. And if you ever saw them, you would even turn and run. All of the other killers used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Randolph join in any_..." She stopped, glancing back at Steve as if to question the next line.

"Poker," he prompted.

She nodded very seriously. "Right. _They never let poor Randolph join in any poker games. Then one foggy Saturday night, the sheriff came to say_, _'Randolph with your guns so bright, won't you shoot my wife tonight?' And then all the other killers loved him, as they shouted out with glee: 'Randolph the two-gun killer, you'll go down in the penitentiary_!'"

Danny felt all the blood drain from his face even as Grace beamed at him. He swallowed hard, patted her head, told her she had the best voice of anyone in the world and asked to see Steve in the living room for just one moment.

Eyes bright with mischief, Steve shook his head. "Are you armed? If you're armed I can't go with you. Besides, it would be very irresponsible of me to leave your child unattended in a kitchen full of sharp objects and a stove on."

"Besides, Danno, we're going to start the egg nog right after the last batch of cookies. Uncle Steve made a batch last night if you want to have some now." Grace said, liberally adding more sprinkles to any empty spots on the sugar cookies.

"That sounds lovely, Gracie. I will have some right after I come back with your Uncle Steve. No sharp objects or ovens until I come back." Danny said. He reached up and snatched his partner's ear, twisting it ever so slightly.

The spoon Steve was holding clattered to the counter. "Ow! Hey, ow!" he protested.

Danny dragged until he was sure that he was mostly out of Grace's earshot. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded in a low hiss, finally releasing Steve's ear.

The taller man stood up straight, hand going straight to the bright red ear and holding it. "What the hell was I thinking?" he grumbled. "Who drags their partner into his own living room by his ear?"

"The partner who entrusted his daughter to the other partner who decided to teach her violent songs that will get put back on the first partner by the first partner's ex-wife when she hears the daughter singing them!"

Steve paused. "I'm sorry. How many partners is that, exactly?"

Danny smacked him in the arm. "Ow." Steve grumbled, switching from rubbing his ear to rubbing his arm. "I kind of thought you'd like it."

Danny's hands had barely stilled on his hips before they were waving again. "Like it?" he demanded. "You thought I would like my daughter singing about a man of the law hiring a killer to off his wife? Why in the name of all that is...huh."

Danny's gaze shifted upwards thoughtfully. A slow smile began to cross his features before he shook his head and forced himself to frown again, poking Steve in the chest with his finger. "You. My daughter is a child. A little girl. Less with the violence, more with the baking." Danny said sternly.

"Fine, fine." Steve said.

Danny headed back towards the kitchen.

"Sexist." Steve added under his breath.

"Danno! Uncle Steve! The cookies are going to burn!" Grace yelled, pointing at the oven but not touching it.

Danny rolled his eyes in Steve's direction. "Violent songs and burning down your own house all in one Christmas Eve. Impressive, even for you, McGarrett," he said as he grabbed an oven mitt and pulled the tray out of the oven. He gave them a funny look. "They're all stuck together."

"No they're not," Grace sighed dramatically as she pulled a chair over to where the cookie sheet had been put down. In her hands she held several tubes of icing in various colors. "See?" she asked as she began to paint what looked like hair and clothes on the little figures that looked somewhat more like cookie-people than they had when they'd first come out of the oven.

After several moments of Danny watching her project he could recognize several people. "Is that Kono, honey?"

Grace nodded enthusiastically. "And Chin. And this is you, Uncle Steve, and me." she said as she pointed to the various cookie-people.

Danny and Steve watched as Grace recreated their little makeshift group, their ohana, in cookie form. She completed the set with a big, icing smile on Cookie Steve and set the icing tube down. Grace tilted her head, frowning ever so slightly.

"Something's missing." she murmured.

"It looks great, honey." Danny said, although he secretly questioned the polka dotted shirts he, Cookie Steve and Cookie Chin seemed to be donning.

Steve leaned over and whispered in her ear. Grace grinned and picked up the icing again. When Cookie Danno was sporting a Santa hat, Grace put her icing down and smiled. "There! The Christmas family." she announced.

Danny shook his head, but was smiling and Steve grinned at him.

Grace hugged both of them. "Merry Christmas, Uncle Steve. Merry Christmas, Danno."


	18. In a Flash

**Because You're Always Right **

**Chapter Eighteen: In a Flash **

**Takada Saiko & Gabrielle Day **

A/N: SO. We'll be updating again, and by we I mean me now that I've found all the stuff we wrote and have transferred it off my portable hard-drive and onto google docs. Ahem. For a quick recap, everything is pretty much AU now and takes place before the end of the first season. In these stories, Danno and Steve are roommates living in Steve's house, they have a cat named Arizona, and a doctor who despairs of keeping them out of her ER. Also, we don't own any characters from H50 or any other show that might pop in for a visit. Enjoy!

* * *

"So basically we've got nothing on Hernandez and his crew?" Steve asked his team.

Chin shook his head and brought several pictures up on the big computer screen. "These two are closest thing to a lead. They were in all three clubs on the nights that the owners were killed. They're often seen but not well known. Two to three days ago they went underground, haven't been seen since. "

"About the time we went to talk to Hernandez." Danny said.

"He warned them." Kono suggested.

"Or gave them cement boots and sent them out for a swim." Danny countered.

Kono made a face.

An officer stuck his head in the room. "Detective Williams? There's a package for you at the front desk."

Danny made a face back at Kono before he started for the door.

"What, Danno, got a girlfriend that you didn't tell us about?" Steve chuckled.

"Jealous, McGarrett?" the blond jibed back. "Hey, kid, who brought it in?"

There was no response and Danny took a moment detour to glance down the hall after the officer. He didn't see him, hadn't even recognized him, and shrugged as he turned back towards the front room, spotting the brown box on the desk. Just before he reached the object, everything exploded in fire and light. Danny felt himself being thrown back, pain etching its way into every inch of of his body. His head ached on impact with the wall, his eyes burned, and he felt himself slide down against what had been a full wall backing up to a hallway before the blast, and sat on rubble.

Kono got to him first, slender fingers touching his shoulders and then his face. "Danny? Can you hear me? Danny!" His blood smeared onto her fingers.

"Kono?" he asked, sounding disoriented.

Chin and Steve ran outside, but there was no sign of the young man who'd made the delivery.

"What do you want to bet he really isn't one of ours?" Chin asked.

"I'd say that was a pretty safe bet." Steve said. He looked around one last time and ran back inside to his downed partner. He crouched next to Kono and touched Danny's shoulder. "Danno? You okay?"

Blood was running down his face and he peered straight ahead, blue eyes unfocused. He reached out towards Steve, finding his arm and latching on. "Steve?" He coughed against the dust that was still settling. "What happened?" His voice was shaking and he blinked rapidly, his hand clenching onto his partner's arm even tighter with panic rising. "I can't... something's wrong, Steve. I can't see. My eyes feel like they're open, but I can't...I can't..."

Steve shushed him and cradled his head between his hands, turning his head ever so slightly to the left and then to the right. Danny's eyes didn't track him. and Steve felt his heart plummet. There was no sharp gaze, no mischief, no irritation mixed with amusement...nothing.

"Kono, find out how long the ambulance is going to be. If it's faster we'll take the car." Steve said, sounding a thousand times calmer than he felt. "Danno, you've got a huge cut on head and there's a lot of blood."

"That isn't helping me, Steve."

"Head wounds bleed, you know that. It looks a lot worse than it is. But you don't want blood in your eyes so just keep them closed, okay? Can you do that for me?" he asked softly.

The blond let out a shuddering breath. "Not like it's going to-"

"Danny, just do it," Steve hissed, regretting his tone as his partner shrugged back away from him and did as commanded. Neither of them were handling this well. He looked up to see Kono attached to her cell, trying to get some answers. A few others from various other parts of the building were filtering into the room, shocked gasps at the mess the small bomb had made.

"Chin, get them out of here!"

"Right, boss," the other responded, immediately moving towards the forming crowd. "If you could all exit the back way?"

"Steve?"

"Right here, partner," the former Seal murmured, running a hand lightly across the detective's hair.

"You... Do you think it's permanent?"

"Listen," Steve whispered, trying to sound more confident than he felt, "I've seen this happen in the field. Flash blindness. It's temporary."

"Not always."

"Most of the time."

"Well thank you for at least narrowing my chances down to fifty-fifty." Danny said.

"I do what I can for ya, Danno." Steve replied, returning his hand to the detective's shoulder. Kono flashed him a five and he nodded. He wouldn't be able to get Danny to the car and to the emergency room any faster than that by himself. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Is your knee okay?"

Danny snorted. "I think the knee is the least of my problems," he grumbled. He shifted, taking inventory and wincing. "Shoulder and back. And my head, but you already said that that's obvious."

Steve nodded and then frowned. "Yeah," he said instead and Danny felt large hands checking his shoulder. It was out of socket, he knew. He didn't need a doctor - or Steve - to tell him that. There might have been a bit of shrapnel that caught his back, but if that were the case, it didn't seem to bother the blond enough to comment. So they sat there together, Steve eventually taking Danny's hand in his own and giving it a reassuring squeeze. No more words passed, because Steve certainly wasn't the best with words, but at least Danny knew. He knew that he wasn't about to be left alone, and no matter what was to come, Steve would be there to help. Amazing how things had changed in such a relatively short amount of time.

Steve could feel the tension rising in his partner's body next to him. "You're going to be okay, Danno." Steve said firmly.

"If not? What then? I'll never be able to see Gracie again. I'll be useless to you. I won't be able to tell if you've ordered pineapple on the pizza." Danny said, voice catching.

"Hey, don't say that. Don't say that. You are going to be fine. It's only temporary. You'll see Grace. And you will never, never be useless to me." Steve said fiercely.

Danny slumped to one side until his head was resting against Steve's arm. "I don't hear any promises about the pineapple."

Steve heard the sirens in the distance. "I never make promises about pineapple," he said with a forced grin and Danny chuckled.

"Bastard."

The grin turned real and he saw the ambulance pull up outside. The medics rushed in and Steve was pushed back, murmuring to Danny the whole way until he was sure his partner couldn't hear him amongst the flurry of motion. He watched, eyes wide at the sight, and finally took a deep breath as he steadied himself. He pulled his phone out and began dialing.

"Steve?" He turned to see Kono giving him a questioning look.

"I'm calling in a favor."

"What kind?"

"I knew this kid when I was stationed on land in Iraq. Army kid. He got hit with a road-side bomb and the light blinded him. I think that's what's happened with Danny. When they shipped him back to the States he got the best."

"Oh. So he's okay now?"

Steve frowned. "He got the best care he could have," was all he said as the phone began to ring.

"Anderson." the answer came over the line.

Steve ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh of relief that the number had still be correct. "Hey. It's McGarrett."

"Steve! What's up?"

"My partner's been hurt. I need your doctor."

* * *

Steve's friend made the contacts in no time, and by the time Steve made it to the hospital, one of the top eye specialists in the nation had a ticket to Honolulu Airport. This not only covered his favor, but Steve figured he probably owed Anderson some on the back swing.

Dr. Parker was actually impressed to hear that Dr. Richard Easom was on his way to Hawaii. She didn't verbalize it, but Steve knew by the slight widening of her eyes and the way she stiffened. "All right, then. Just means that I don't have to call anyone in."

It was nearly twenty-four hours before he arrived. In the mean time the hospital and Dr Parker did everything that they could for Danny and had diagnosed him with flash blindness. Parker assured both of her regular patients that it was temporary, but it was still best to have Easom in.

Steve found himself hovering some hours later, having been out on the street and tracking down the young man who had posed as an officer. He was now in a holding cell with an unexplained broken nose. An aging man entered the hospital room, looking tired and jet-lagged.

"You must be Lt. Commander McGarrett," he greeted.

"Yes. You must be Doctor Easom. I can't thank you enough for coming out here on such short notice." Steve said, shaking his hand.

"Don't thank me. I'm happy to be of help and if I can wrangle a promise of good behavior out of our mutual friend I'd go to the Bermuda Triangle. And that's just for the promise of good behavior."

"Is that what I have to do? Fly across country to get you two to behave?" Doctor Parker asked. Steve gave a lopsided grin as she introduced herself to Doctor Easom and escorted them down the hall to Danny's room.

The blond was sitting up in bed, gauze still tightly wound around his eyes and his arm in a sling. Other than that he looked much better than when he'd been brought in. The head injury had not been nearly as serious as Steve had feared and only a few very small pieces of debris had dug themselves into his friend's back. It was, much like his knee, the least of their troubles.

The greying doctor approached the bed, not bothering to conceal or make his footsteps overly heard. "Detective Williams? I'm Doctor Richard Easom. I hope I can be of some help to you."

Danny stirred, startling and looking anxious.

Danny licked his lips and leaned forward, trying to place the sound in the room. He had a general idea of how the room was set up, but it was still disconcerting to not be able to see the parameters, to not be able to tell how many people were in the room with him, to not be able to locate his partner.

"You're the specialist." he said, tittling his head and listening for anything and everything to figure out where everyone was. "I...Steve tells me your the best at what you do."

Easom watched carefully as Danny noted his position and immediately dismissed him, and did the same for two nurses that entered and exited the room. The detective only quit searching when his dark-haired partner moved to stand to the immediate left of the hospital bed.

"One of." Easom agreed easily. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, Detective."

Danny snorted. "Steve keeps telling me it's not permanent. Everyone keeps saying that, but they won't let me take the gauze off and it's not like I can tell if anything is different." He took a steadying breath, feeling himself getting worked up. He just wanted to rip the wrappings from his face. Rachel had brought Gracie by to see him some hours before and it had been harder than he could have ever imagined. He could hear Grace's lighter footsteps moving faster than her mother's hesitant heels. He could smell Rachel's expensive perfume - Danny was sure it was the same kind that he'd bought her for their last anniversary that they'd had together, and while it had taken up a chunk of his paycheck then, she probably had stores of it now - and his daughter's strawberry shampoo. It was strange at best. Unnerving.

"It's only been twenty-four hours since the bomb going off, yes?" Dr. Easom asked, and sounded as if he were shuffling through Danny's paperwork.

"Yes." Steve said, placing his hand on Danny's shoulder. "And it isn't permanent." he said.

Easom glanced up. Despite his verbal denial of what his Commander said, the tense lines of the detective's body eased with the reassurance.

"That's good. The less time that's gone by the better. It's very possible that your partner is correct, Detective Williams. I won't guarantee anything at this point, but I won't tell you it isn't a possibility."

"And if not?" Danny asked quietly. "If not your life will change, Detective Williams, and not for the worse as you might believe. It will change, but you will carry on. You should meet August. He's done quite well for himself. Just don't stand around if he picks up a weapon. Let's take a look, shall we?"

* * *

Danny had never been fond of doctors. Nurses, maybe, and even Doctor Parker had gained a bit of a pass in his usual distaste for the profession but after hours of poking, prodding, lights that he could only catch the barest glimmers of in comparison to what he thought might be shadows moving he was sure that he was not overly fond of Dr. Easom. Oh, the man was nice enough, even polite in the way that he would speak low and smooth against the darkness, but in the end Danny was simply frustrated. Easom had left to look over results some time before - he was having a hell of a time trying to keep time in perspective - when he heard the door open.

"Unless you have good news I don't care," he growled out before he could stop himself.

Steve stood in the doorway with Grace in his arms and the little girl's face began to crumple. He kissed the side of her head and hugged her, gently shaking his head. Grace nodded and took a deep breath.

"We brought you your iPod, Danno!" she said cheerfully. "We added some new music for you to listen too while you're here."

Danny looked stricken but quickly composed his face into a smile. "Hey, Monkey! Your beautiful voice is always good news. Can I give you a hug?"

Grace looked at Steve who nodded and set her down to run across the short distance to her father. She clambered up into the bed and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry for snapping, baby." he murmured in her ear.

"It's okay, Danno. Uncle Steve can take it."

"Yeah, your Uncle Steve takes a lot of it, huh?" he murmured softly, not really caring that he was admitting it out loud.

"I wanted to bring Arizona to see you, but Mommy said that the hospital wouldn't let me."

"Well, I hate to say this, but your mommy's right about that one. You'll have to give him a pet behind the ears for me, okay?"

"Okay." Grace cuddled close to her father, not willing to slip back down to the floor unless she was specifically told to. Danny wrapped his good arm around the little girl, not caring at all that his shoulder ached with her leaning against it. It was wroth it.

"How're you feeling?" Steve murmured.

"I can't stand waiting," the blond acknowledged.

"Your buddy that you called...?"

"Yeah?"

"Was he the guy that Easom was talking about? The one who had to adjust?"

Steve nodded and grimaced when he realized the motion was futile.

"You're nodding at me again, aren't you?" Danny asked. He titled his head in Grace's direction. "Can you believe him? I'm blind for a couple of days and already he's mocking me?"

Grace giggled. "He isn't mocking you, silly. He's just practicing for when we take the gauze off. Doctor Easom already promised that me and Uncle Steve can be here when they do. And guess what, Danno? Me and Uncle Steve are learning-"

"Grace." Steve said softly.

"Ping-pong." She transitioned easily. "Kono is showing us."

Danny frowned. "Wait."

Steve and Grace exchanged a quick look before Steve continued on quickly."Yeah, the buddy I called is the one who had to adjust. He was a Spook on assignment, got caught in a trap. But he's adapted very well. Says he gets a lot more dates."

"That's nice... I think, but back it up. What are you two learning?"

"Ping-pong!"

"Yeah, right up there with tennis," Danny grumbled. "I'd love to see that." The sarcastic remark melted away into silence and Danny frowned.

Grace gave Steve a pleading look and he nodded.

"Don't be sad, Daddy," Grace whispered, hugging him. "Uncle Steve and I are learning how to read Braille in case we need to teach you." She looked over her shoulder, half expecting a nervous look from her adopted uncle, but only saw dark blue eyes trained on her father, sadness and emotions that she didn't know mixed into them.

Danny felt the breath leave him and he opened his mouth but no words would come. "I..."

Steve crossed the room and grabbed his shoulder. "It's just a preventative measure. I...I thought it would be better to have a plan for all contingencies and Grace wanted to help and I..."

Danny reached up and lightly tapped his face with his fingers. "I know. You're a Seal and you plan for everything. Thanks." he said, voice raspy. He patted the face he could no longer see again.

"Oh! Oh, I know! I have an idea!" Grace said.

"Tell me, princess."

"We can teach Arizona to be a seeing eye kitty!"

Danny stifled a grimace at the thought of the small black and white kitten that already felt that his place was under Danny's feet first thing in the morning. And any other time for that matter. The cat was a walking accident waiting to happen.

"We can get a harness for him, and one of those signs that the dogs wear-"

"Honey, cats don't wear harnesses," Danny tried to argue gently.

"He can! He'd be the very first seeing eye cat!"

The argument died on her father's lips and they betrayed him by giving into a smile at Grace's words.

"I'm sure that would work great, Gracie," he said instead.

"Uncle Steve and I can start training him right away!" she exclaimed.

"Oh boy." Steve said and Danny grinned again.

* * *

The days stretched on with Easom bustling in and out, Steve, the rest of the team, and Grace's regular visits, and little more. The one highlight seemed to be the time that Grace actually succeeded in smuggling Arizona in for a visit, saying with all seriousness that the poor little kitten wouldn't eat and walked around Steve's house crying all the time. That hadn't been enough to convince the hospital staff, but Danny knew that Rachel was strained to keep a disapproving note to her voice.

The only downside had been when the little mite headbutted him in the nose, which left him with tears streaming and making the gauze damp. Grace insisted that meant that Arizona loved him but Danny wasn't convinced. Steve actually laughed, so Danny considered the event not a total loss.

Late that evening Easom visited to level with him. "I'm afraid it's a waiting game at this point. We've had you on a steady dose of anti-inflammatory medication, and we've kept you upright to reduce pressure on the eyes themselves. I'd like to give it another twenty-four hours or so to let your eyes rest and recover as much as possibly. All the statements tell me you weren't directly over the package when it exploded, so we'll hope that the issue will have resolved itself. If not, we'll talk about other options at that point. Can you hang in there for another twenty-four hours?"

Danny sighed. "Like I have a choice."

"That's the spirit." Easom said with a small smile. "I have promised your daughter, who is a very persuasive young woman, that she may be present and your friend has asked, rather uncertainly and awkwardly might I add, if he may be the one to unwrap the gauze. It's neither here nor there to me, but I feel like the decision on them both should be up to you."

Danny's mind immediately put forth an image of Steve awkwardly asking anything and he fought the twitch of his lips upward. The only thing awkward about Steve was the way he seemed to make other people feel. Especially the parents of small children. Or teachers. Or random people he passed on the street.

"It's fine," the blond murmured at last. "Both are fine."

"I'll let them know."

The hours ticked by and, if Danny had expected Steve to visit before the appointed time, he was disappointed. Though he slept - not having much else to do - and listened to the music Grace had brought him, those twenty-four hours were quite possibly the longest in his life. He was dreaming when Easom reentered the room. Funny how quickly he was able to keep track of the man's steady tap of his hard-soled shoes against the tiles. Or the fact that Grace's sandals were harder to hear, but she was there, because he heard her before she took hold of his hand. "Mornin', Danno!" she announced.

"Is it morning, Monkey?" he asked.

"Yup! Nine o'clock." She announced.

She leaned close. "When he takes the gauze off, don't mention the black eye. Uncle Steve had a rough time tracking down the bad guy who sent the package. And Kono and Chin are in the waiting room for you, too. And Grandma and Grandpa are praying for you."

"Did Uncle Steve let you drink coffee again, Gracie?" Danny asked.

"Yup. Uncle Steve lets me get peppermint in mine."

"The man is a death sentence for any parenting attempt." he grumbled.

"I heard that." Steve murmured from the doorway.

"Good," Danny answered with a small smile. "So, I hear you're doing the honors?"

"If that's okay."

Damn it all if Steve actually sounded hesitant. Danny wished he could have gotten a recording of the statement for proof later. He knew Steve would deny it till the end of the world if asked. It sounded as if the former Seal was shuffling his feet against the floor and Danny realized he hadn't answered. He bit back any snarky reply that came to mind and simply said, "I trust you."

Danny sat with his legs hanging over the edge of the bed, barely swinging them in a nervous rhythm. Grace gripped his fingers tightly and she and Steve exchanged a nod as he moved forward to stand in front of Danny. He was close enough that their knees brushed and Danny's nervous kicks hit against Steve's shins, but Steve didn't say anything and Danny didn't quit kicking. Steve rubbed his hands against his t-shirt and lifted his hands to begin unravelling the gauze. With each pass Steve made around his head, with each layer removed Danny gripped the sheet tighter to keep from squeezing Grace's hand too hard. He was absolutely terrified that all the waiting had been for nothing. That Steve would get to the end and Danny wouldn't see him or Grace.

Finally Steve pulled off the last of the gauze. Danny could feel the brush of his fingertips against his skin as Steve pulled off the pads from each eye. Steve stopped moving, and Danny waited. And waited. He could feel the tears burning and falling, and Grace squeezing his hand and his arm.

"I can't see you, Steve." he whispered.

Steve took Danny's face in his hands and thumbed his tears away. "Danny," he breathed. Danny felt the press of lips against his forehead and felt confused because he could have sworn he also felt the tiniest of smiles. "Danny, you've got to open your eyes." Steve whispered.

Danny flushed. He'd had his eyes closed for so long, and with the medication, he hadn't even thought about it. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open. He blinked rapidly several times and the blurry image of his grinning partner came into focus.

Danny's laugh of triumph half caught in his throat and turned to his little girl. She grinned up at him, never looking more beautiful in than that moment and hugged him. He wrapped his good arm around her and pulled her close.

"Okay," he breathed, feeling a weight lift and the rush of relief settle around him. His eyes shifted back to his partner and he couldn't help but grin as Gracie's words echoed in his memory.

"Nice shiner, partner."

"Shut up," Steve grinned and ran a hand across the detective's blond hair, ruffling it. He pulled the injured man into a hug.

They sat there for a long moment, reveling in the fact that they'd come through yet an other close call. They weren't sure how many more they could avoid because eventually something was going to catch them that one of them wasn't going to walk away from, but for right then in that very moment, they were okay.


	19. Electric Twist

**Because You're Always Right**

**Chapter 19: Electric Twist **

**Takada Saiko & Gabrielle Day**

A/N: More updating from the great beyond. Sorry about the crazy huge gap, for those of you who are following this crazyness! We still don't own them. Trigger warnings for this chapter of electrocution. Enjoy!

* * *

Danny stirred, groaning as he became aware of the various aches and pains bouncing around his body. Guerrillas, he recalled. Gorillas, too, the massive ugly brutes that had kidnapped his partner and then waylaid his rescue attempt. As rescue attempts had gone, it had failed epically. Danny didn't have much experience in the rescue-crazy-ass-shoot-first-ask-questions-later-idiot-partners department; however, he figured he should not have also wound up at the mercy of the captors. It couldn't be said that he hadn't gone down without a fight. Kicking was involved, as was hitting and shouting and cursing in Jersey-ian and throwing himself against iron bars demanding to know what they'd done with his crazy-ass-shoot-first-ask-questions-later-idiot-partner only to hear Steve laugh softly behind him.

Danny had not been so amused at the time and was not amused now. He blinked and frowned at the sight in front of him. A black leather square was laying on the floor. He sat up slowly and reached for it, unfolding it like a billfold. Steve's identification and smug picture stared up at him. Fear knotted in his stomach as he realized Steve was no longer in the cell with him.

He turned to look for him in the room and almost wished he'd stayed asleep.

The sight that met his eyes was one that he'd never wish on anyone. His partner was well beyond his reach but certainly not out of his line of sight. Steve was strapped to a chair that looked like it could have been used for shock treatments back in the 1920's. His head was lulled forward, shoulders slack, and eyes closed. There was no sign of life other than the barest movement that came from his breathing. Danny pushed down the panic that rose in him, threatening him, and he was on his feet in an instant, all pain in his own body pushed aside.

"Steve!"

Wires were hooked to the chair, ready and willing to feed it the electric currents for which it hungered. Switches and buttons of all menacing sorts were set off just beyond the unconscious Seal.

"Steve! Damn it!" The blond all but threw himself against the bars. "Wake up!"

Steve groaned and shook his head. He was definitely not where remembered being when he'd fallen asleep with the help of a hard object connecting with his skull. He heard Danny calling to him and Steve forced his head up. He was restrained to a wooden frame chair and he jerked against the straps.

"Danno?" he asked, confusion coloring his voice.

"Steve! Can you get out?"

Steve pulled against the straps binding his arms to the chair arms and his chest to the back. He shook his head. "No. It's too tight." He could see the panic in his partner's eyes.

"You've got to try harder," Danny growled out, looking as if he thought he might be able to take the bars apart with his bare hands. The way he was shaking at them he might have come close.

"Now, now," a voice echoed through the large room, bouncing off the broken tile floors.

"You boys should save your strength. It's going to be a long night."

"You sonava bitch! Let him go!" Danny shook again at the bars, the warning given by their captor completely ignored.

"Or what, detective?"

"I swear to God if you lay one hand on him I will crush every bone in your body and break your face until it's so flat you could fry an egg on it!" Danny snarled.

"An interesting image. I shall keep that in mind, although, might I ask what you'll do if I don't plan to lay a hand on him?" He moved casually towards the controls.

Danny looked at Steve, eyes wide. "No, no, no, no. Don't you dare. Tell us what you want."

"I want to send a message."

"Get a cell phone!" Danny growled. "Crowley, you can't kill him. You'll bring down the full force of the Hawaii Police Department, the Governor's office, the Navy…your little operation will be finished, you hear me? You'll be done."

Crowley turned away from the controls and circled Steve, who was carefully controlling his breathing and keeping his eyes on his partner. "Such a shame, really. The next in line of the McGarrett dynasty to fall."

"Don't talk about my father." Steve said through gritted teeth.

Crowley patted his cheek and grinned at Danny. "Oops. I laid a hand on him."

Danny cursed at him and shoved at the bars separating him and his partner again. Crowley walked back to the controls and Steve took a deep breath through his nose.

"Steve, Steve," Danny said desperately.

"It's okay, Danno." Steve whispered.

"No! No, this is not okay. This is so _not _okay!"

"Danno," he whispered again.

They looked at each other, neither knowing what else to say.

"Touching," Crowley announced, fingers lingering over the switch. He seemed to be getting some sick joy from watching Steve's controlled expression that seemed to be the polar opposite of the countless emotions sprawled across his blond partner's face as he struggled with the unmoving bars. "Truly. Maybe if more people cared about each other like the two of you do, we wouldn't be necessary."

"You're insane, Crowley," Steve hissed. "You'll still go down, no matter what happens here. You'll just go down that much harder if you kill us."

"Really only one way to find out."

Danny could feel his eyes burning as Steve looked back at him. Steve managed a half smile for his partner. "This is going to suck."

"You crazy bastard." Danny rasped.

"Hate me later."

Crowley flipped the switch.

Buzzing filled the air as the current went live. Steve's body went rigid and his eyes widened at how badly it actually hurt. He screamed. His body shook, rattling the chair frame. Danny screamed too, still desperately fighting the prison keeping him from saving his partner. He collapsed to his knees, tears spilling down his face.

Crowley flipped the switch off.

Steve's eyes fluttered once before closing. He spasmed and slumped forward, head lulling.

"No!" Danny moaned softly. Any care that he might have had at keeping his composure was gone as he leaned against the bars, tears streaming and shoulders shaking. His eyes were trained on his partner, unable to tear his gaze away. Steve twitched slightly every few seconds, but it gave the blond detective no real hope that he'd survived. He didn't know what the human body could take in voltage levels. He'd never thought he'd need to. He closed his eyes against the painful sight, but was only rewarded with the mental image of Steve jerking in the monstrous machinery. His eyes flashed back open and he stared horror stricken at the floor of his prison. No matter where he looked there was no escaping the images or the grief. He could hear Crowley unstrapping the former Seal and moving him, but still he couldn't look. Not until he heard one of Crowley's men begin to unlock the cage door did he glance at what was happening.

Rage flooded his senses as he watched Crowley drag Steve's body towards the cell. Between Crowley and his helper they hoisted Steve up. Danny stumbled from his knees to his feet and moved towards the door just in time to catch Steve's body as they shoved him away.

Danny's arms tightened around him and he sank to the floor, cradling Steve to him. There were burns on his arms and his chest from the entry and exit points of the current. Crowley locked the door again.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to bury him, Detective, but at least you can say goodbye." Crowley said. He and his man left, leaving Danny alone with the body of his partner.

As soon as the door had shut Danny pressed his face against Steve's hair and sobbed.

"Steve," he gasped. "Steve, you can't…you just…you bastard."

In a wave of denial and determination, Danny decided wasn't done fighting. Not yet. He lowered Steve the rest of the way to the ground, carefully resting his partner's head against the concrete. His fingers skimmed over his neck, looking for any sign of a pulse. Nothing. There was nothing. He lowered his ear. No breath. No heart beat. His lips had even begun to turn blue.

Danny fought back his rage and forced himself to think. He was trained; he knew what steps to take, what steps Steve would take if their positions were reversed. He pushed hard on the taller man's chest over and over again to circulate the blood; tilted Steve's head back and breathed into him, forcing air into unresponsive lungs. He alternated again and again, praying fiercely that it would work.

After what seemed like an eternity, Steve's body gave a twitch and he coughed harshly as he sucked in his first breath in what Danny worried might have been too long. Steve jerked up, one fist swinging at air and if Danny hadn't been so terrified he might have smiled. Leave it to his partner to return from the dead fighting. The sudden burst didn't last and Steve began to collapse back. Danny caught him against his chest, wrapping one arm around him and cradling his head with his other hand. Steve was drenched with sweat but he shivered against Danny as his body tried to reboot itself.

"Shh, shh, it's okay, partner. I'm right here. You're gonna be okay." Danny whispered. He could feel Steve's heartbeat skittering against his ribcage and held him closer. If he was crying now, he wouldn't acknowledge it. "I know it's hard, but you've got to stay calm, okay? I'm here, babe. You're okay, Steve."

"Danno," Steve rasped. He brought a hand up and curled his fingers around Danny's arm. Danny could feel the heat of the burn on his palm against his skin.

Danny clung to him like his life depended on it and maybe Steve's did. The other man was shaking so badly that Danny worried that he might send himself back into cardiac arrest.

Steve shifted after several minutes, curling as closely as possible to his partner. Slowly, sluggishly, he tried to look up. "You're crying." he rasped.

Danny frowned. "Am not."

Steve almost chuckled. "What are you? Five?"

"What the hell do you expect?" Danny grumbled. "I thought they'd killed you. They _did_ kill you, you crazy bastard!"

Steve's breathing hitched a bit as he struggled to sit up more and then slouched, finally giving into the fact that he was going to have to be held up. "You... worried?"

"Yeah." Danny admitted softly.

Steve didn't know what he'd expected, but the breath of the honest word had not been it. He also didn't expect the swift press of lips against the side of his head, a split second benediction. Steve closed his eyes, the sound of his partner's heartbeat so much steadier than his own. "Knew you'd be here." He mumbled.

"Oh, sure. Just passing through. You at least owe me a drink, sailor." Danny said.

A small thread in his knot of worry loosened when he felt Steve smile. "Listen, since I'm doing all the work here, when Crowley comes back in, you're going to need to play dead. I know that'll be a stretch for you at this junction, but do your best."

"Aye, aye, captain." Steve said drowsily. Every part of his body hurt, and his burns stung badly which was the only thing keeping him awake.

Danny could feel his partner slacken against him, but quelled his own panic over it. Crowley was fast approaching and it wasn't too much of an act as the blond clung desperately to his partner, telling the terrorist that it'd be over his dead body if he thought he'd get a hold of Steve's.

"Oh good. You get the general idea." Crowley murmured.

After a quick survey of the darkened holding area, Danny saw only Crowley, a guard that followed him in, and one that stood at the door. He obviously didn't seem much of a threat to the man. He knew Crowley would be armed, one gun in a holster under his suit jacket. He'd use that to take out the two lower men. He had a promise to keep with Crowley himself. Danny took comfort in the soft huffs of air he could feel from his partner, but allowed his mind to go back to that moment when Crowley flipped the switch. For the rest of his life he would carry the image of Steve being murdered in front of him and the sound of his partner screaming. Crowley took Danny's dead expression as submission.

The criminal didn't even have time to react as Danny moved from behind his partner to close his hands around Crowley's neck. He slammed his captor against the bars, causing the two guards to stir in surprise. He reached for the gun, finding the safety latch not hooked, and they were dead before the furthest had time to draw. A bullet had hit just shy of Danny's head, but he didn't even seem to notice as he slammed the struggling Crowley against the bars with such a force that he was half surprised his head didn't go through them.

"You're lucky, you know. I don't have time-" slam - "to deal with you the way I'd like to."

Crowley opened his mouth, a response dancing on his lips, but Danny slammed him back again. He could feel his blood boiling and all he saw was red. After what could have only been a moment or even a bit of forever, he felt a hand latch around his ankle. He looked down to see Steve struggling.

"No," he rasped. "Not like this. You'll regret it."

Danny realized he was gasping for breath and he looked back at Crowley who was barely conscious. The detective made a face and with a last frustrated sound bounced the man's skull off the bars one last time. He let go of the man's suit jacket and Crowley collapsed to the floor.

Danny knelt and carefully pulled Steve to him again. He leaned close to his ear. "I wouldn't." he whispered fiercely.

"Because, you know, you're not a hothead or anything," Steve murmured with a smile tugging the edge of his lips. "Come on. They'll have heard the gunshots."

Danny gave a quick glance back towards the door, the dead men, and their mostly unconscious leader. With a stiff nod he swung Steve's arm around his shoulders, hoisting him up.

Steve didn't complain once, the entire way through the compound or when Danny got him in the passenger side of a Jeep he hot-wired for their getaway. His breathing was labored and his color was bad. As Danny drove the Jeep like a madman towards the nearest hospital, he spoke in calm, even tones and reached over and grabbed his partner's hand when Steve lost his fight to stay awake. Steve didn't stir again until Danny was pulling him out of the Jeep and into the hospital where he swore he'd have Chin and Kono after the bastards but that he wouldn't be leaving. Not until he knew for sure Steve would be okay, he wasn't leaving.

Dr. Parker withheld her usual sarcastic remarks at the look on the blond's face. Instead her eyes held a bit of sympathy and she laid a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

"He'll be okay," she promised quietly and then Danny was left alone in the waiting room, the hour late, and his own thoughts his only company.

* * *

Police brutality. Of the two of them, Danny would have thought that Steve would get that pegged on him first. He knew it wouldn't stick. The governor had promised them immunity and means, but he wasn't happy that the claim had been made. He wanted to show Crowley brutality, he thought as he leaned against the wall next to the hospital's entrance.

"Thought you weren't coming."

Danny spun around, blue eyes coming to land on his smiling partner, being wheeled down by an exceptionally beautiful nurse that winked at him before she left.

"Well, actually, they thought you weren't coming. I never questioned it."

Danny couldn't help but grin. "I'm just about tired of seeing the inside of hospitals, you know?"

"Yeah. I know. We should go on vacation." Steve suggested as he snuck a look around before ditching the wheelchair to make it the last ten feet to freedom on his own volition. Or at least his own volition and his partner's arm.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Us. On vacation."

"Sure. We could make a team thing. Maybe Grace could come. They have this really interesting adventure package in the Rockies. Or skiing. Has Grace been skiing?"

"You have got to still be on some serious pain medications if you think I'm going to let you haul my baby up and down a mountain on ropes or on skis. And as if you aren't dangerous enough running around on your own two feet you think it's a good idea to strap skinny fiberglass boards to yourself and slide down a mountain?"

Steve squinted as they made it safely into the parking lot where the Camaro was waiting for them. He was quiet, which meant he was thinking, which meant Danny worried. As he opened the door for Steve, his partner grinned.

"Disney World?"

Danny pictured a nice, relaxing week in a hotel, hanging out with the team, taking Grace on the rides. Then he pictured what it would really be like. A seven day marathon careening around four parks and would probably wind up on beach, which he had enough of every day of his life now. He sighed.

"I'll think about it."

"C'mon," Steve grinned, starting around to the driver's side, but only rolling his eyes a bit when his partner redirected him to the passenger's. "It wouldn't be all bad."

"Until you told a child that one of the Disney villains would eat them." He paused, glancing over and noting the strange look on Steve's face that consisted of a cocked eyebrow and thoughtful look combo.

"You would too." Danny insisted.

"That was a one time thing. She's was obnoxious."

"She was eight."

"Still."

"You're right, you're right. You would find new ways to scar children and give them nightmares for the rest of their lives. I'd love explaining that one to Rachel." Danny turned the keys and the engine purred to life as he mocked Rachel's accent. "How did it go? Oh great, just great. Steve got us kicked out of Disney World. What? You never get to see Gracie again!" Danny paused. "Don't give me that look. You know that's how it'd happen."

Steve grinned. "Maybe. But we'd have fun until they kicked us out."

Danny stared at him. "You read Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson as a kid, didn't you? All those boys adventure books."

Steve nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because I think you think you're still in one."

"Why not? I live on a tropical island, I protect said tropical island with my friends and family, I have a trusty side-kick..."

"Sidekick?" Danny exclaimed. "And who would that be, might I ask?"

"You, of course."

"I'm not your sidekick."

"Then what would you call yourself?"

"I'm your partner," Danny answered, sounding somewhat hurt.

"What's the difference?"

"The sidekick's always getting kidnapped and beaten up and crap. I think we're pretty equal on that front."

"So we're partners?"

"Equal."

Steve gave him a lopsided smile and leaned back against the seat, letting his eyes drift shut. "That means it's your turn to take the beating next." He laughed as Danny sputtered to answer the whole way home.


End file.
